Memorials of the Rev. John Cantine Farrell Hoes, D.D.

VI. Appendix 119

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

AMONG the earlier emigrants from Holland who found a home on the shores of this continent was Jan Tysse Hoes, the ancestor of him who is the subject of this sketch. The name of Hoes reaches through eight generations in this country, extending back to the early part of the seventeenth century. John D. Hoes, the grandfather of Dr. Hoes, died January 25, 1789, at the age of thirty-five. His father, Peter I. Hoes, was born in Kinderhook, N. Y., and after a residence of several years in Middleburgh, N. Y., returned to Kinderhook in 181 7, where he continued to reside, highly respected for his intelligence and all the qualities that form a good citizen, till his death in 1846, at the age of sixty-one. Hannah Hoes, the sister of Peter, and aunt of Dr. Hoes, was the wife of Martin Van Buren, eighth President of the United States. The. grandfather, on the mother's side, was Peter Swart, a native of Schoharie, where he died in 1829, at the age of seventy-seven. He was an officer in the Revolutionary War, and rendered efficient service in the valleys of the Schoharie and Mohawk. After the war he held several civil positions of honor and trust, among them being those of Judge of Schoharie County, State io yoJin Cantine Farrell Hoes.

Assemblyman and Senator, and Representative to Congress. He was a man of high character and wide influence, and was held in marked estimation by all who knew him. His daughter, Maria Swart, was married to Peter I. Hoes, and died in 1851, from the effect of an injury received while on a visit to New York to her son, the late Peter S. Hoes, Esq. She was a most estimable lady in all the relations of life, leaving as her memorial a name which none could mention without praise.

The eldest son, John C. F. Hoes, was born at Middleburgh, N. Y., July 13, 181 1. He enjoyed the advantages of a Christian nurture, as well in the family as in the society in which his lot was cast. His home having become fixed at Kinderhook since 18 17, he was brought under the pastoral care and training of that devoted servant of Christ, the Rev. Jacob Sickles, D.D. During- the revival with which the Kinderhook Church was largely blessed in 1827, Dr. Hoes was seriously impressed by the manner in which his pastor urged the claims of experimental religion upon the attention of his people. " One sermon in particular," wrote Dr. Hoes, in 1869, "I distinctly recollect above all others. It was to myself a sermon of enlightening influence and convincing power, making an impression on my mind, as enduring as my existence. The text of that sermon was taken from the Prophet Haggai i. 5 : ' Thus saith the Lord, consider your ways,' and by the blessing of God upon that sermon, some of us were led to consider our ways." On August 24th of that year, at the early age of sixteen, Dr. Hoes became a member of the Reformed Dutch Church of Kinderhook, being among the fruits of the work of grace just referred to. That this step was not the result of mere youthful emotion, and was taken after mature and conscientious deliberation, is shown by a record made by him and dated June 15, 1827, several weeks before his public profession of faith in Christ. In this paper he says: "I have set apart this day for humiliation and prayer, and particularly for self-examination and the secret dedication of myself and all that I have, or shall have, to God, for time and eternity. After having examined myself by the word of God, according to the best of my knowledge and ability, I think I can find evidence that my views and feelings in relation to God and his character have been radically changed, and that I have met with that change of heart which is called in the Bible, Regeneration, or the New Birth." He then writes down several resolutions relating to personal duties and observances, which, with the help of God, he purposes through life to perform, the last being in these words : " ;th. That I will, at least once in each week, faithfully and prayerfully examine myself, to see what are the ruling motives of my heart, and also to discover whether I have indeed passed from death unto life."

This is a striking record as made by a youth of sixteen, and evinces a degree of careful self-searching, of conscious responsibility, with a maturity as well of introspection as of forecast, rarely seen in one so young, and auguring- well for a devoted Christian life.

In the Kinderhook Academy, then one of the most flourishing and best-known institutions of the kind in the State, Dr. Hoes pursued his preparatory studies. The Christian ministry was his aim almost from the becrinnino- of his Christian life, and long before leavingschool for college he had fully decided on his future vocation. He accordingly entered the Sophomore Class of Amherst College in 1829, and graduated with great credit in 1832, with the Theological Seminary directly in view as completing his preparatory training for the honored office he was longing to occupy. He entered Princeton Theological Seminary the same year he left college, and after pursuing his studies there with great diligence for two years, was duly licensed to preach the gospel, by the Presbytery of New Brunswick, on September 16, 1834 — his term in the Seminary, where his course was continued after licensure, not ending till 1835. Dr. Hoes while in the Seminary wisely improved all the opportunities afforded him of preparation for his great life-work. With his characteristic energy, he threw his whole soul into his studies. His note-books of seminary lectures are models of completeness, precision, and care. His discourses prepared at that time bear the characteristic marks of his subsequent preaching. They were simple, consecutive, logical, and strictly evangelical. The first discourse he ever preached was in old Kinderhook. "In that church," he wrote in 1869, "with great fear and trembling, for the first time, in the presence of my parents, and those who had known me from my infancy, I was permitted to ascend the winding stairs to the pulpit, and preach my first sermon."

During Dr. Hoes' last year in the Seminary, he frequently supplied pulpits in the surrounding country and elsewhere, preaching, among other places, several Sundays in February and March, 1835, at Clover Hill, N. J., in the Reformed Dutch Church. This Church immediately extended to him a call to become its pastor, which, though cordially given, and opening to him a promising field of labor, he felt constrained, from a sense of duty, to decline. " The decision has been reached," he wrote to them, " from a regard to my youthfulness in the ministry, my consequent want of experience in managing church matters, and particularly those of an infant Church, and my consciousness of the need of more study and training to become efficient and skilful in winning souls to Christ." After leaving the Seminary in 1835, he officiated for several Sundays during the summer of that year in the Reformed Dutch Church of Chittenango, N. Y., the result being a unanimous call to become its pastor. Mistrustful of his ability to meet the expectations of the people, on account of his youth and inexperience, he proposed to preach a year before being installed, that the Church and he might ascertain whether the pastoral relation between them were fitting to be established. The trial being satisfactory, he was, accordingly, duly ordained and installed by the Classis of Cayuga, April 22, 1836, the sermon on the occasion being preached from 2 Cor. iv. 5, by the Rev. W. H. Campbell, D.D., late President of Rutgers College. He

14 yohn Can fine Farrell Hoes.

commenced his labors among them with a strong- mistrust of self and as strong a reliance upon the grace of God. " I would most solicitously ask an interest in your prayers," he wrote to the Consistory, " and in the prayers of all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ, at Chittenango, that He would sustain me in the discharge of my duties, and that my ministry may be blessed to the temporal and eternal welfare of your Church and congregation." He remained here, laboring with much earnestness and acceptance, for nearly two years, when his services were sought and secured for a wider field. All through his life Dr. Hoes looked back upon his brief pastorate at Chittenango with emotions of peculiar pleasure. Some interesting reminiscences of his ministry there, in the form of a letter written by himself for the semi-centennial anniversary of that church, are given in another part of these memorials.

As an evidence of the favorable record and impression left by this brief ministry of two years at Chittenango, it deserves to be mentioned that twenty-two years afterward, that is in 1859, when Dr. Hoes was laboring acceptably and efficiently in Kingston, a spirited effort was made by the Chittenango Church to secure once more the services of their former pastor, and he was accordingly recalled with great heartiness and unanimity. He was offered a salary much larger than he wras then receiving, and he was informed that it was one-third more than they would be able to pay to any other pastor. " There seems to be throughout the entire Church," writes the Consistorial Committee, "one general expression of joy at the possible idea of your becoming their pastor, and we cannot but hope that a Gracious Providence has great good in store for this people, and that you, dear sir, are to be the blessed instrument in the Divine hand of a glorious work here." Dr. Hoes could not but feel deeply gratified by this movement on the part of the people forming his first pastoral charge, but a sense of duty compelled him to decline their invitation. The Kingston Church, to which he was then ministering, had been largely blessed under his labors, and had just been enjoying a remarkable season of grace. Under such circumstances, he did not feel justified in leaving his present field of labor, and he accordingly communicated to his former people, by letter, the result of his deliberations. The Consistory, in referring to that letter, wrote : — " It brought sadness and doom into the midst of our congregation, for they had anticipated your return to the pastoral care of our Church once more after so many years of separation— the Church of your first love. It may not be amiss to say that under the banner of your name all factions and interests were absorbed and centred upon you as the instrument, in the hand of God, of a glorious work among our people."

Dr. Hoes left Chittenango to assume pastoral charge of the Reformed Dutch Church of Ithaca, N. Y., to which, in May, 1837, he had been unanimously called, the duties pertaining to the pastorate of which he performed with assiduity, vigor, and success for a period of eight years. Here, unknown to himself, he was undergoing a season of delightful preparation for gathering into the Master's garner richer fruits and riper harvests in that larger vineyard which was to engross the best spiritual and physical energies of his life. His ministry in Ithaca, the longest in the history of that Church, was truly memorable. The seal of God's approval was stamped upon his preaching, and one hundred and sixty-one new members were added to the Church, a larger number than followed upon the ministrations of any of its other pastors save its first, the venerable Dr. Mann.

In September, 1845, the Reformed Dutch Church of Kingston, N. Y., on the unanimous recommendation of its Great Consistory, extended a call to Dr. Hoes, which on mature deliberation he was induced to accept. In communicating his decision to the Ithaca Church, he informed them that the principal consideration which influenced him to take the step was that a more extended field of ministerial influence was opened before him, and that the leadings of Providence seemed to indicate that it was his duty to enter it. The separation was painful to both pastor and people, who were strongly united in bonds of esteem and affection ; but, at his urgent solicitation, they acquiesced in the dissolution of the pastoral relation, placing on record at the same time their testimony to the " faithful and fearless manner " with which the pastor now leaving them had performed his duties, and the happy relations which had subsisted between him and his people during his whole ministry among them.

The ministry of Dr. Hoes to the Kingston Church extended to January 7, 1S67, a period of more than twenty-one years. His labors as a faithful and devoted servant of his Lord abounded here with signal tokens of success. Large numbers were added to the Church. The benevolent operations of the day were commended and liberally 'sustained. The various interests of a large congregation were assiduously watched over and promoted, while the Church continued to occupy a high position of influence and efficiency in the community. The present spacious and attractive church edifice was erected during his ministry, and stands as a memorial to the enterprise and energy of himself and the people, whose liberality and cordial co-operation served to carry forward the work to a successful close.

In the early part of 1849, four years after his settlement in Kingston, the Reformed Dutch Church of Lodi, N. Y., sought to secure the services of Dr. Hoes, and offered him its call. There were circumstances about this field, thus unexpectedly opened, that commended it strongly to his attention, and he laid the matter before his Consistory, that their views might be compared with his own in regard to the propriety of continuing their connection as people and pastor. The Consistory, by a unanimous vote, resolved: "That it is our sincere desire that our present relation continue ; and while we know of no reason why such connection should be dissolved at any time, at the present crisis especially, we think it would be detrimental to the interests of our church, and that it would be contrary to the wishes and interest of the congregation, as well as against our own wishes and feelings. With such sentiments influencing the Consistory, and the congregation in whose behalf they spoke, and whose feeling and views they represented, the pastor had only the alternative to remain and labor where he was, by declining the offer to go elsewhere. " I can assure you," he wrote to the Lodi Consistory, in declining the call, "that I am doing violence to many strong attachments to friends and churches in your section of the State. Those were some of the most delightful days of my ministerial life which were spent with my brethren of the Classis of Cayuga, and I can assure you it would afford me great pleasure to be associated with them again in the work of one common Master ; but my Consistory and people feel that I ought by no means to think of leaving them." His work in Kingston was destined to occupy many useful years yet before it reached a close, as his connection with the Church there, both in its results and its duration, was to mark the most important period of his ministerial life. Besides the labors of his parish, Dr. Hoes was much engaged in promoting the cause of education. As evincing his interest in this department of labor, he served as a Trustee of Kingston Academy from 1846, for twenty years, and as President of its Board of Trustees from 1854 to 1864. In 1861, on account of "the duties arising from the relations he sustained to a large parochial charge, and the impaired state of his health," he resigned his membership and presidency of the

Board. That body, however, declined to accept it, and he continued its president until the Academy, by special act of the Legislature, became merged into the system of graded schools. The action of the Board of Education, in view of his decease, appears in another place in these Memorials.

The degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon Dr. Hoes on July 20, 1852, by Union College. In 1867 he was elected President of the Board of Superintendents of the Theological Seminary of the Reformed Dutch Church at New Brunswick.

Dr. Hoes, for nearly thirty years, or since 1854, was a Life-Director of the American Bible Society, and a Life-Director of the American Tract Society since 1839. He was a strong friend of the Young Men's Christian Association of this place, and often visited their rooms. In May, 1866, shortly after the organization of the first Association, he presented it with a large and handsome Bible for use in its public devotional services. " If we can impress upon the minds of the young," he wrote in his note accompanying the gift, " the importance of ' searching the Scriptures,' a great point will be gained in fortifying them against the temptations to vice with which they are surrounded, and directing their steps in paths of respectability and usefulness in this world, as well as guiding them in the way of happiness in the world to come." The action of the Young Men's Christian Association in reference to the death of Dr. Hoes is given elsewhere in these Memorials.

Dr. Hoes was a staunch advocate of the cause of temperance, and from his first entry into public life advocated its claims with perseverance and energy. He was fearless and outspoken in his denunciation of the use of intoxicating liquor, as a beverage, at a time when the cause was unpopular, and its advocates too often branded as enthusiasts and fanatics. Among the earliest addresses he delivered, were two before his fellow-townsmen in Kinderhook, before his ordination to the ministry, in which, with rare beauty of diction and strength of argument, he held up before them the fearful evils of intemperance. He never poured more pathos and earnestness into any of his discourses than in those in which he portrayed the havoc, misery, and ruin that follow in the course of the intoxicating cup. Ever feeling sure of his position, he always presented solid arguments, which he emphasized by Bible truth, unanswerable statistics, and facts drawn from personal observation. From the first he planted himself on the broad platform of " Total Abstinence," as furnishing the only permanent basis of safety. He, accordingly, had no sympathy whatever with the advocates of " Moderate Drinking," and ever denounced them as among the most specious enemies of the work. While Dr. Hoes approved of all proper external organizations and other aids in the Temperance Reform, he, at the same time, always claimed that the Church of Christ was the best temperance society. He took the position that all moral reforms were failures, except such as were based upon the teachings of Bible Christianity, and that by divorcing the claims of temperance from the requirements of true religion, many so-called Temperance Reformers were in reality the worst enemies of the cause.

During the war for the preservation of the Union, Dr. Hoes was ever staunchly loyal and patriotic. He aided the cause with his best efforts both from his pulpit and upon the public platform. His voice was frequently heard in the various war meetings which made the old Court House vocal with patriotic utterances, and aglow with patriotic zeal, from the bombardment of Sumter to the close of the momentous struggle. He was, in the largest sense of the word, a patriot. Patriotism was a part of his religion, and influenced by its dictates, he ever sought to inspire those about him with the great responsibilities of the hour. Although he never carried his political views into his pulpit, he recognized a wide gulf between politics and patriotism, and he was never slow, upon proper occasions, in giving forth from the sacred desk the most patriotic utterances. " I am fully persuaded," he said from his pulpit in the early part of the struggle, "that we at the North are riofht in sustaining our National Government and overthrowing rebellion, even, if need be, at the cannon's mouth, and at the point of the bayonet." And that sentence seemed to form the key-note of all his subsequent words and actions throughout the war. He never swerved in his belief that the union of the States would be preserved, and treason made odious. " I believe," he said from his pulpit, in 1863, " that God is always fighting on the side of Right, and that, in the

22 yolui Cantine Far veil Hoes.

result, He will vindicate the cause of Justice, Humanity, and Religion. And such is my estimate of the cause in which we are engaged. We are aiming to vindicate and sustain the Constitution of the United States as the supreme law of the land. We are aiming to perpetuate free institutions to generations yet unborn — to protect ourselves and all that we hold dear on earth from a band of wicked conspirators, who, when they can no longer control the policy of the nation, seek to overthrow the government."

On retiring from the charge of the Church of Kingston in 1867, Dr. Hoes received from the people he was leaving a testimonial which pleasantly exhibited the estimate in which his character and lone services were held by his late parishioners. The testimonial was in the form of a paper, signed by more than three hundred communicants and pew-holders, who knew best and prized most both him and his work. This paper sets forth with great distinctness the qualities which had made the ministry of Dr. Hoes to the Church he had served so long, acceptable, honored, and efficient, in an eminent degree, — and as an expression of the sentiments and feelings of a flock toward a shepherd whose unwearying watchfulness had afforded them such protection, help, and benefit, reflects credit as well upon the giver as upon the recipient. On this account it is fitting that the paper, with the response to it, should appear in the present sketch, and it is accordingly subjoined :

Rev. John C. F. Hoes, D.D.

Dear Sir : The ministerial relation you have held to the "Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Kingston," for more than twenty-one years, having" been terminated by the joint action of yourself and its Consistory, the undersigned, communicants and pew-holders in that Church, cannot suffer you to leave this field of your labors, hopes, and large success, without some additional memento of the feeling of the people so long in your charge, in regard to the faithful and earnest ministry you have exercised among them. So we esteem it our duty to the Church, as much as to yourself, to obey the Apostolic injunction to "render honor to whom honor is due," and to place upon record :

First. — An expression of our gratitude to the Divine Head of the Church, that for more than a score of years, during which you have been the minister of this people, they have been kept "in the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace," as well as from the excitement and danger that often attend a change of the pastoral relation ; while we have enjoyed, without interruption, and with a regularity that has added great comfort to the services of the sanctuary, the ministrations of one who has not only been " faithful in word and doctrine," but has not spared himself from any labor or sacrifice by which, in his judgment, he could advance the interests committed to his charge, and to which he has devoted the ripest vigor of his mind, and the best years of his life.

Second. — We desire to express our sense of the consistent and exemplary walk and conversation, the sound principles and untiring vigilance and zeal, by which you have done so much — under God — to sustain and elevate the character and reputation of this ancient

24 yohn Confine Farrell Hoes.

Church, and especially during so long a period of social, civil, and religious excitement, unparalleled in our history, and in the midst of elements not less diverse than those which, in other communities, have wrought fearful dissensions and divisions.

Third. — We have great reason to commend the executive ability and business talent you have been enabled to display in the management of the temporal affairs of the Church, throughout your whole ministry among us, and this without causing you to omit, in any degree, your attention to the spiritual welfare of the people. The very large expenditures made, at different times, in alterations and repairs, the erection of our present substantial and beautiful church, at a cost of nearly forty thousand dollars, provision for a revenue adequate to all the requirements of the Church, the rental of every available pew, and the absence of any indebtedness, are, in a great degree, owing to your efficiency, prudence, and care.

Fourth. — We bear our united and cordial testimony to the constant and unwearied acts of personal kindness ; attention to the sick, infirm, and bereaved ; of wise counsel to those who have sought advice in temporal or spiritual matters, which, in a very large and widely extended congregation, you have been enabled to render— and also to your strict fidelity to the constitution, standards, and customs of the Church, and the fearless presentation of scriptural truth, "whether men would hear or would forbear."

Fifth. — You have our best wishes for the health, happiness, and prosperity of yourself and family, and earnest prayer shall not be wanting that the blessings of that Gospel you have so long labored to impart to others, may cheer your own heart ; and that having

" fought the good fight and kept the faith," your course, when finished, may be rewarded with "the crown of life."

Dated February 5, 1867.

REPLY.

To Messrs. Cornelius Bruyn, H. H. Reynolds, James

Three Hundred other Persons, " Communicants and Pew- Holders," in Protestant Reformed Dutch Church, Kingston, N. Y.

My Dear Friends and Former Parishioners : On the day after my return to Kingston, having been absent nearly four weeks, I was agreeably surprised and delighted to receive your kind and friendly communication.

Language is inadequate to express the deep emotions of my heart in view of this renewed evidence of your respect, confidence, and affection. I know not what return I can make, except to say that it is my hope and prayer that nothing may ever occur, in the least, to mar the recollection of all that is delightful and pleasing in the protracted social and pastoral intercourse which we have been permitted together to enjoy.

You allude to the large measure of success which has attended my ministry. I am pleased that you bear witness to this fact ; and it should be remembered that this success has been granted, by the Divine Head of the Church, to such an extent, that I have received into its communion between four and five hundred persons — a number larger than the present membership of the Church, while, during the same period of time, there have been organized four other churches, all drawing,

26 John Cantine Farrell Hoes.

to a greater or less extent, upon the pecuniary and numerical strength of the "old mother Church."

I feel profoundly grateful for this voluntary testimonial, and would hereby express my gratitude to each and every individual whose name is affixed to it ; and my prayer shall ever be offered in their behalf, and behalf of the Church for whose temporal and spiritual prosperity I have made so many sacrifices, and devoted twenty-one of the best years of my life.

Your friend and former pastor,

John C. F. Hoes.

Kingston, February n, 1867.

After closing his pastoral connection with the Church of Kingston, Dr. Hoes did not assume again the duties of a settled pastor. His home continued in the midst of the community with which his long residence had made him so familiar, and which was endeared to him by a multitude of grateful and tender associations. His purpose was to dwell where he had longest served as a tiller and a reaper in the field, till the Lord of the Harvest should call him home. He did not, however, sit down at his ease and decline farther service at the Master's bidding. He stood ready to obey every call to preach the Word and minister to the spiritual needs of men. He supplied for a period of two years, ending December, 1872, the Reformed Dutch Church of Woodstock, N. Y., where his labors were highly blessed to the temporal and spiritual advancement of the Church. Shortly after the close of his labors there, he presented the Church with a Communion and Baptismal Service. The Consistory, in accepting it, "Resolved, that we will keep and cherish the same as a precious memorial of our kindly and pleasant intercourse with the donor, and also of his zealous and successful labors, whereby the temporal and spiritual interests of this Church have been largely promoted." Elsewhere in these Memorials may be found the Resolutions passed by the Consistory of the Woodstock Church, in view of the decease of Dr. Hoes.

Dr. Hoes rendered stated services for shorter terms to other churches, while he frequently officiated in surrounding congregations, by whom his services were sought, and to whom he preached with much acceptance and effect to the very close of his life. Indeed, he had engaged to supply a pulpit, several miles from his home, only three days before his death, and was obliged, when sudden illness seized him, to request a friend to render the service in his stead, — and when that Sabbath dawned his spirit had fled. It was a happiness and a joy to him to preach the Gospel, and every opportunity that presented itself to proclaim Christ and bear witness to the truth, he failed not cheerfully to embrace. His wide acquaintance with the churches around him, and his acceptableness as a preacher, brought these opportunities often to him, and thus the influence which as an " ambassador for Christ" he had wielded when in charge of a parish, he continued to exert, through these frequent pulpit ministrations, to the very last.