History and directory of Temple Presbyterian Church, formerly Central Presbyterian Church in the Northern Liberties, Philadelphia

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974.802

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Preface

The idea of writing this history did not originate with me. By a vote of the Board of Trustees, on the 13th of April, 1868, my name was associated with others on a committee to do a work of this kind. The matter of compiling and writing was left entirely to me. Very soon after this appointment, engagements connected with the building of the “New Church ” were quite sufficient to claim all the time I could reasonably give outside .of my regular pastoral duties. This will account for the work being delayed until the present, time. More recently our Synod took formal action looking towards the preparation of histories of individual churches, and the “Presbyterian Historical Society,” through its Secretary, Mr. Samuel Agnew, has been earnest in pressing this subject upon the attention of pastors.

For much of the introductory history in this volume I am indebted to Rev. T. J. Shepherd, D.D.,

PREFACE.

whose hook, entitled “ The Days that are Past,” should he in the hands of all who are interested in the beginnings of Presbyterianism in the northern section of our city. I have also examined, in connection with our own church records, the records of other churches. I hare consulted with persons in the city, and corresponded with others out of the city, for facts, or for confirmatory evidence of facts already possessed.

I have incorporated here and there, throughout the work, so much of outside history as I have felt requisite ; for frequently what was going on without was the occasion of, or gave coloring to, what was going on Avithin the church.

I am glad to believe that the work meets with the cordial approval and endorsement of those to whom it has already been submitted for examination, and can desire no more than that its publication will intensity the attachment and love of our members to this church, which God has so wonderfully kept, and so signally blessed.

JAS. Y. MITCHELL.

HISTORY.

“ We have thought of thy loving kindness, O, God, in the

MIDST OF THY TEMPLE. WALK ABOUT ZlON, AND GO ROUND ABOUT HER : TELL THE TOWERS THEREOF. MARK YE WELL HER BULWARKS, CONSIDER HER PALACES ; THAT YE MAY TELL IT TO THE GENERA- TION following. For this God is our God, for ever and

EVER : HE WILL BE OUR GUIDE EVEN UNTO DEATH.”

CHURCH HISTORY.

L

INTRODUCTORY HISTORY.

To The Presbyterian Church must be accorded the honor of inaugurating regular religious services in the northern section of our city.

For some time before the Revolutionary War, when all north of Vine street was nothing more than a country settlement, the Second Presbyterian Church, then worshiping at the corner of Third and Arch streets, held the “North End” of the city as a field for their missionary labors.

There was not the attraction of a dense population to call them to this work. There was no commodious or attractive room in which to gather a congregation. Love for souls, and a deep interest in the Master’s kingdom, alone impelled them to it.

Uninviting as the field was, the Second Church cultivated it. Arrangements wtere made for services to be held at stated times, in a small house, which they provided and fitted up, at the north-east corner of St. John and Coates streets.

The different pastors of that church fully entered into that movement, and gave of their time and talents to preach the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ in the midst of these waste places.

In the Providence of G-od, these pulpit ministrations were of the very highest order. During the whole time that this was occupied as a missionary field, the Second Church was blessed with four of the very best preachers and pastors, viz. Drs. Gilbert Tennent, James Sproat, Ashbel Green, and Jacob J. Janeway; men alike gifted, zealous, wise, warm-hearted and evangelical.

These labors, so early begun, were interrupted by the Revolutionary War.

The British army encamped here, and the house in which religious services had been held was used as a receptacle for military stores.

From this fact it received the name by which it was afterwards known — “ The Old Cannon House.”

Soon after the termination of the “War,” Rev. Dr. Sproat revived the services which had been interrupted.

The congregation soon became too large for the building they had, and, of necessity, they were led to consider the project of erecting a church building elsewhere.

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A lot at the northwest corner of Second and Coates streets, was donated for this object by Mr. "William Coates. Money was solicited and secured for the building. The work went on, and on Sabbath, April 7th, 1805, the completed building was opened with appropriate services.

This mission church was afterward formally organized into what is now known as the First Presbyterian Church in the Northern Liberties.

God abundantly blessed the labors which were there bestowed. He poured out copiously of His Holy Spirit upon the people, and the first pastor of the church had the pleasing satisfaction of seeing the membership grow from fifty-two , the number at the time of his installation, January 11th, 1814, to about eleven hundred , the number enrolled in the spring of 1829, when it was proposed to move to a more westward location.

The subject of removal was agitated for about three years. In March, 1832, a lot of ground was purchased in Buttonwood street, below Sixth, and in May following, the work of building a new edifice commenced.

The lecture room in the new church building was opened for service in December of the same year ; and on May 12th, 1838, the audience room being finished, was appropriately dedicated to the worship of God.

The signal success which attended the preaching of Mr. Patterson, the crowds which waited on his ministry, the constant growth of the population, and the felt want of increased church accommodations, led some of his people to seek for the establishment of

ANOTHER CHURCH.

As early as the year 1825, one hundred and four persons petitioned the Philadelphia Presbytery to organize a new church.

Through their committee, the Presbytery organized a church, to be known as the “ Second Presbyterian Church in the Northern Liberties.”

This church called the Rev. James Smith to be their pastor, and for five years maintained worship in the Commissioners’ Hall, in Third street, below Green.

At the end of that time they undertook the erection of a building in Sixth street, above Green. They succeeded in getting the building under roof, and occupying the basement for worship, but they were well-nigh overwhelmed with financial troubles.

At this time,

ANOTHER COLONY,

of thirty-eight persons, went out from the First Church.

These persons had all along differed from their brethren on the question of church site, and felt, too, that they had an independent work to do for their Master. They asked, therefore, to be dismissed, in order to constitute the “ Third Presbyterian Church in the Northern Liberties.”

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Dismissed, and regularly organized into a church, they met for worship, conducted by Rev. Hugh M. Koontz, in a school-room on Poplar street, above Second.

In the course of a few months, negotiations for the union of the Second and Third Churches were begun and consummated.*

The plan of union provided that both of the churches should drop their names, and come together under the name of “ The First Presbyterian Church of Penn Township.”! The pastor of the Second Church was to resign, and Rev. H. M. Koontz, the supply of the Third Church, was to be elected pastor of the united church. The burden of completing the building was to be borne by the Third Church.

Thus united, the work of finishing the building was pushed rapidly forward.

II

ORGANIZATION OP THE “ CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE NORTHERN LIBERTIES.”

In the “ First Church of Penn Township,” differences of opinion soon arose, and before the congregation had occupied the audience-room of their building, the communion was distracted and divided. One part, by common consent, retained the house, the

* This new organization was effected November 21st, 1831. f This church is now called “ The North Presbyterian Church.”

pastor, and the name. The other part returned to the school-room on Poplar street, worshiped there for a short time, then went to “ The Commissioners’ Hall,” in Third street, below Green.*

In the second story of this hall a church organization was etfected, on June 24th, 1835, under the title of “ The Central Presbyterian Church in the Northern Liberties.” Rev. John McDowell, D.D., presided, and Rev. C. C. Cuyler, D.D., assisted at the organization. Twenty-one persons enrolled themselves as members of the church. These persons presented certificates of dismission to organize this new church, as follows :

From the First Presbyterian Charles Elliot,

Anna Maria Elliot, John G. Flegel,

Sarah Flegel,

Ellen Naglee,

Joseph Naglee,

Hannah A. Naglee,

Church , Penn Township.

Joseph Pond, Catharine Pond, Hannah Harby, Margaret Naglee,

Ann Reynolds, Benjamin Naglee, Hannah R. Naglee,

From the Fifth Presbyterian Church , Philadelphia. John A. Stewart, Margaret Stewart.

From the First Presbyterian Church , Northern Liberties. William P. Aitken, Amelia Aitken,

Joseph Aitken, Mary M. Aitken,

Charles C. Aitken.

* This hall was torn down some few years ago, and in its place now stands the Northern Liberties Public School.

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After the organization, the people elected three elders, who were solemnly set apart to their office. Agreeably to a notice given from the pulpit, June 28th, 1835, a meeting of the congregation was held on Monday, June 29th. At this meeting the congregation proceeded to an election for pastor, when a call was unanimously made out for the pastoral services of Rev. ¥«. H. Burroughs.*

Mr. Burroughs had been preaching and laboring in the Northern Liberties since the 19th of April, preceding this meeting, and with considerable success. He accepted the call of this congregation, and was installed as the first pastor of this church by the Second Presbytery of Philadelphia, on the evening of August 24th, 1835.

The installation services were held in the First

* Mr. Burroughs was born in Vermont, and educated at Hamilton College, N. Y. After leaving College, he taught for some time a classical school in Trenton, N. J Afterwards he became a teacher in the Manual Labor Institution at Germantown, Pa. When a Manual Labor Academy was instituted at Elizabethtown, N. J.,he was invited to take charge of it, which he did, and continued in this position for two years, when he relinquished it, in order to give his whole attention to preparation for the ministry. He was licensed to preach the gospel by the Presbytery of Elizabethtown, February 19th, 1833. Twomonths later, by the same Presbytery, he was ordained to the work of the gospel ministry with a \iewto his laboring as a stated supply in the church at New Providence, N. J . On October 8th, 1833, he was regularly installed as pastor of that church. In the spring of 1834 he was called to the First Church, Penn Township, but his Presbytery refused to release him from his charge at New Providence. His health was greatly impaired about this time; and after a journey to the South in 1834, he returned to his charge, followed by a call from Oakland College, Mississippi, to become a Professor in that institution, also by overtures from a number of persons in the First Church, Penn Township, to come to this city and lead them in the formation of a congregation and the building of a new church. This invitation he accepted, and thus became the first pastor of this church.

HISTORY OF THU

Presbyterian Church, N. L., by invitation from the pastor, Rev. James Patterson.

Before this church organization, however, the people, though small in numbers, were arranging for the building of a church edifice. By mutual agreement,Messrs. Joseph Naglee, Benjamin Naglee, Joseph Pond, John A. Stewart, and John G. Flegel, met with Mr. Charles Elliot, at his house, on December 31st, 1834, to consult together “on the expediency of erecting a building, to be occupied by a Presbyterian congregation, in the Northern Liberties.”

After prayer, and a free conversation on the subject named, this little company organized themselves into what they denominated an “Association,” having for its object the “purchase of a lot of ground, and the erection thereon of a building of sufficient dimensions to accommodate a congregation, and also to be so constructed as to be useful for Sunday and infant schools, and any other object by which the morals and minds of the youth of this neighborhood may be improved.”

Frequent meetings of the Association were held, and arrangements were soon entered into to purchase ground on the north side of Coates street, below Fourth. At this place there were two lots adjoining, belonging to different owners, and occupied at the time with small houses. To one of these owners was given $4,000, and to the other $3,650, making a total for the lots and buildings thereon of $7,650.

The A ssociation added other persons to their memv«

TEMPLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

bership, and they held the property, which they secured, in stock, at $200 per share.

The two lots purchased, when thrown into one, had a frontage on Coates street of 80 feet, and ran back to a depth of 157 feet.

The work of cleaning the ground, and preparing for building, was soon actively commenced. The small houses on the front of the lot, to the east and west, were allowed to remain, while an avenue, 80 feet wide, was opened in the center, running back 81 feet from the building line on Coates street. Where this avenue ended, the front of the church building stood.

The building itself was 61 feet wide by 66 feet deep. It was built of stone and rough-cast. Its design was plain, but attractive, and was in rigid conformity to the style of church architecture common at that day.

The trees which grew on either side of the long avenue, gave a special attractiveness to the exterior as one approached the building, and we have no doubt that its projectors and builders regarded it complete, as completeness was reckoned in those days. When finished, it had on the main floor of the audience-room one hundred and seventeen pews, and in the gallery thirty pews. These pews afforded sitting accommodation for about seven hundred persons.

On the lower floor, there were the lecture room, which was used also as the main Sunday School room; the session and trustees’ room, and the Infant Sunday School room.

Like all the lecture rooms of churches built about this time, the one in this church was, in the true sense of that word, a basement. Its floor was several feet below the line of the pavement, and we wonder not, that in our day, many complaints were made of its darkness and dampness.

One of the essentials of a church property in those days, was to have provision made for the burial of the dead. Hence, burial vaults were arranged on the east side, and in front of the building. Some of these were designed for the poor of the church, some for rent to outside parties, and some for sale to any desiring to purchase.

The work of building had so far progressed during the spring and summer of 1835, that on the 12th of October, the Association appointed a committee to invite the congregation worshiping in Commissioners’ Hall, which had been duly organized as the Central Presbyterian Church in the Northern Liberties, to come, with their pastor, and hold their services in the Session room of the new building.

This invitation was accepted, and on the 14th of November, 1835, this church and congregation, not only met there for worship, but with appropriate exercises formally dedicated the lower room to the service of God.*

* A short time before the opening of the church, the pastor had ruptured a Mood vessel. In a very weak condition, he attended the opening services. Rev. Mr. Bacon, a city missionary, preached the sermon. The pastor offered the prayer, and baptized Miss Malvina Walton, who was received into the church on profession of faith. This was the last time Mr. Burroughs was in the church.

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While the work of finishing the main room of the building was going on, the attention of the congregation was directed to the framing of a Constitution, and the securing of a Charter.

A Constitution was adopted in the beginning of the year 1836, and the Charter was obtained and recorded at Harrisburg, July 8th, of the same year.

Under this Constitution and Charter the following persons constituted the first Board of Trustees :

Benjamin Yaglee, Charles Elliot, John A. Stewart, Edward Patteson, Caspar Yeager, Peter Mintzer, Joseph Pond, Joseph Yaglee, John C. Flegel,

The first annual meeting of the congregation, under the Charter, was held January 9th, 1837 ; at which time Messers. B. Yaglee, C. Elliot, and J. A. Stewart, whose term of service in the Board had expired, were elected by ballot , to serve for three years.

The first meeting of the Board of Trustees, under the Charter, was held July 27th, 1836. An election for officers took place with the following result : President, Charles Elliot.

Secretary, Edward Patteson.

Treasurer, Benjamin Yaglee.

At this meeting a committee was appointed to confer with the Association, relative to the transfer of their property to this congregation. Also, a committee to draft suitable By-Laws for the government of the Board.

While these temporal interests were being considered, the church was not neglecting spiritual affairs. They maintained their services regularly, and the spirit of the records shows that all the members were awake to do the “ will of God.”

Their pastor, however, Rev. ¥m, H. Burroughs, was compelled by feeble health to leave them, and in less than one year from the time of his installation, God called him “ Home.”

There were added to the church, during his ministry, twenty-three persons.

CALL DECLINED.

The congregation met, agreeably to notice given from the pulpit, on Tuesday evening, May 10th, 1836, to proceed if the way be clear, to the election of a pastor. At this meeting they elected Rev. Robert Dunlap, then of Danville, as their pastor, Mr. Dunlap, however, declined to accept the call ol this congregation.

III,

Rev. t, a. j. mines, the second pastor,

About the 1st of August, 1886, the upper part of the church building was finished and appropriately opened for Divine Service.

The people, who had (since the dissolution of Mr. Burroughs’ pastoral relation) been depending on sup- ' plies for their pulpit, now took steps to call a pastor.

Accordingly, on the 26th of August, 1886, a congregational meeting was held, and Rev. Thomas A. J. Mines was elected pastor. He was installed in the month of September following. His ministry among the people was brief. Sickness compelled him, at the end of two months, to retire from the work.*

The congregation were again dependent on pulpit supplies, but the people kept in good heart, and diligently applied themselves to their labors.

The committee of the Trustees appointed to confer with the Association relative to the transfer of their property to the congregation, made their report August 13th, 1836. It was in substance as follows :

“ The Association express a willingness to transfer

* We have been unable to obtain detailed information concerning Mr. Mines. We know only that he was born in Virginia, and that in 1832 he was received as a student in the Theological Seminary at Princeton, N. J. Here he continued for a little over a year, when he went to Maysville, Ky. ; then to Germantown, Pa. ; and afterwards to Carbondale, Pa. He was preaching at the latter place when he received the call to this church, which he accepted. This was his last charge. Upon resigning, he went to the house of his father, Rev. John Mines, who then lived at Rockville, Md. After an illness of about fifteen months, God called him home.

HISTORY OB' THE the property now held by them in Coates street, near Fourth, to this congregation, provided this congregation pay them the amount of money advanced by them, and assume all the responsibility incurred by them in purchasing the lot, and erecting the building and burial vaults, so as to release them.”

This proposition was accepted by the Trustees, and a committee was appointed to make the arrangements and receive the transfer, subject to the approval of the congregation.

Considerable delay occurred before the matter was consummated ; a delay, as we learn from the report of the Trustees, made at a congregational meeting held January 8th, 1838, occasioned by the unfinished condition of the church, and the unfinished state of the accounts of the Association.

At this meeting the congregation empowered the Board of Trustees to make all the necessary arrangements for the transfer of the property to them, and to call the congregation together when they were ready to report.

At a meeting of the congregation, held April 24th, 1838, the terms of the transfer were read in detail, and, on motion, “ the Trustees were authorized to carry the conditions of the Association into effect, by giving corporation notes, and executing the deeds and mortgages therein specified.”

The whole cost of the property, including lot, building and vaults, was $23,433.85. Deducting the amount* credited to the congregation from the time

TEMPLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

of its occupancy of the building, there was a balance still due the Association of $21,289.92. This was the actual indebtedness of the church at the time of the transfer. From the sale of pews and burial vaults, this amount was afterwards reduced to $17,039.92, which was called the “ standing debt.”

The congregation, at the time they accepted the property, with the heavy debt resting upon it, was comparatively small. The records show quite clearly that the average attendance upon the Sabbath services was less than two hundred persons. Yet they were a people accustomed to church hardships and church toil ; and, as their annual reports in these early years so frequently express it, they labored patiently? zealously and unitedly, trusting ever in the blessing of God.

IV

REV. ANSON ROOD, THE THIRD PASTOR.*

It was the good fortune of this people, under God, to call as their pastor Rev. Anson Rood, from Danbury, Connecticut. He was duly installed December 15th, 1837. His salary was fixed at $1000 per annum. It seems that Mr. Rood was eminently qualified

* Mr. Rood was born in Vermont. He graduated at Middleburg College, Vt., in 1825. For a short time after graduation he was a student in Princeton Theological Seminary. He was ordained a pastor of the church at Danbury, Conn., April 23d, 1829. He continued with his first charge until he accepted the call to this church. After resigning his pastoral charge of this church, his health never permitted him to undertake the work again.

to encourage the people. He entered heartily into their work. He was one with them.

We might reasonably expect that there would be embarrassing times for years to come, after a feeble church had assumed such a weight of debt. But it was comforting to this people to have in their pastor one who, never despairing, bade them “go forward.”

While it is bewildering to us to read of liabilities, deficiencies, loans and mortgages, which constantly meet our eyes in turning the pages of our earliest records, it is quite gratifying to discover that those who have gone before us were never slow to suggest ways and means to meet the demands upon them.

The pastor constantly stirred up the people, from the pulpit, to a remembrance that these must be met. Subscription papers were started on the Sabbath, and during the week. These were scarcely out of sight before others were presented. Such rooms as could be used were rented for week-day schools. The ladies formed a “Mite Society.” The people were earnestly solicited to give more liberally to the Sabbath collections. All the income of the church was voted to meet the claims upon it, and the pastor’s salary was to be met by voluntary subscriptions. Pew rents were raised, and lowered, and raised again, as the exigency of the case required. Money was raised on mortgage, so that a previous mortgage might be paid, and those who had it in their power frequently relieved the church from pressing claims, by making temporary loans.

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Such was, in brief, the condition of temporal things during the nine years succeeding the time of the transfer of the property trom the Association to the congregation.

During the spring of 1847, a determined effort began to change the aspect of affairs. A committee, in conjunction with the pastor, undertook to raise an amount sufficient to free the church from all embarrassment. They were so far successful that on May 26th, 1847, according to a previous announcement, the congregation met to congratulate each other, and return thanks to God. At this meeting a series of congratulatory resolutions were adopted ; and after enjoying some refreshments, which had been provided, the congregation adjourned.

The measure of this success, as we find reported at a congregational meeting, held January 11th, 1848, was the reduction of the “permanent debt” from $15,200 to $8,750. During that same year the two lots on Coates street, to the front of and east and west of the church, and running hack eighty feet, were sold to parties with the understanding that they should erect thereon two fine brick dwellings. For these lots the Board of Trustees received $3,000. This amount with the special effort before named, enabled the Trustees, in their annual report, presented in 1848, to announce the “permanent debt” of the church to he $5,750. In addition to this, they reported also a floating debt of $1,349.

During these years, when the congregation was struggling to maintain itself, we do well to remember that it was not forgetful of the wants of others.. The church was opened time and again for worthy objects. The Tract, the Bible, the Mission, and other causes, were allowed to be presented, and appeals for help were cheerfully and liberally responded to. So truly was this the case, and so generally was the fact known, that our church had the honorable reputation of being one of the most benevolent in the city. So deeply interested was the pastor in behalf of the needy, that his seeking after them, and making provision for their necessities, amounted almost to a passion. He not only cheerfully gave of his own substance, but canvassed his congregation for further gifts, to help the deserving poor whom he had previously sought out. His large-heartedness was fully understood and appreciated by the congregation. They in turn sought to “ devise liberal things.” They kept their property in good repair, altered it, sometimes at considerable expense, if the improvements of the times or the comforts of the people required it.

For the first time in its history, the building was closed from the latter part of June, 1841, until the 8th of August, for repairs. During this time it was thoroughly cleaned and painted. An organ was placed in the gallery, pipes were introduced into the building, and gaslight took the place of oil light. In every way the people sought to make the place suitable for a worshiping assembly.

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It is not to be wondered at that God gave spiritual blessings to those who were bent upon building up his church. He continually reminded them that he was with them. During these years he poured out his Holy Spirit, and there were added unto the church a goodly number of souls.

One precious revival began in the winter of 1842, and continued without interruption for twelve weeks. It was denominated “ The Great Revival/’ Meetings were held every evening but Saturday evening, and, as a result, more than one hundred were converted, and added to the church.

Mr. Rood’s health had become greatly impaired, so that he was compelled to seek rest from his pastoral cares. Accordingly he addressed the following letter to the Session of the church, and they, in turn, laid it before the people at a congregational meeting held January 24th, 1849.

Dear Brethren :

I address you, as the proper organ of communication with the church and congregation, in reference to a subject mutually interesting to them and myself. For many weeks as is well known, I have been laid aside from my usual labors, and I see no prospect of being able to resume them. I am quite sensible that the congregation whose interests I have had so much at heart, must suffer inconvenience and injury by this long suspension of pastoral labor ; and I have resolved, therefore, to resign my pastoral charge, that there may be no impediment in filling my place with one whose time and energies, shall be devoted to the work in which I have been engaged. In taking this step (which it is proper to say is entirely the prompting of my own convictions of duty), there are a thousand tender recollections, and associations, which press upon my mind. I think of months and years that are past, of the harmonies and happy charge I left to come among you ; of my hopes and plans, my desires and aims. But on this topic, I must not, I cannot dwell. In my present circumstances as may well be supposed, an enlargement upon them must be extremely painful to me.

Let me through you, express to all the members of the church and congregation, my sincere thanks for all their kind attention and regard. We have lived together in great harmony. We shall part, I am sure, with feelings of mutual kindness and good will. That the richest blessings of the Good Shepherd, may rest on you and yours, that you may be firmly established in the faith, and devoted to every good word and work, is the desire and prayer of your sincere friend and pastor,