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CHAPTER VIII Churches
and Religious Institutions |
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V. The Methodists - 1772 BY THE REVEREND
CHARLES H. ELDER, FORMERLY PASTOR OF TRINITY M.E. CHURCH NOTE:
The editor is indebted to the late Charles H. Elder for furnishing much
of the historical material for the chapter on the Methodists, though
his death unfortunately prevented him from completing the full account. METHODISTS in Trenton have had a long and honorable history.
Years before the first congregation was formed here itinerant Methodist
preachers visited Trenton from time to time. In 1739 it is on record
that George Whitefield came to Trenton and preached. Under date of November
12, that year, he records in his Journal: By eight o'clock we
reached Trent‑town in the Jerseys. It being dark, we went out
of our way a little in the woods; but God sent a guide to direct us
aright. We had a comfortable refreshment when we reached our inn and
went to bed in peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Whitefield left
early the next morning but returned during the same month, attracted
by the fact that a criminal was to be executed, on which occasion it
was expected there would be a great crowd in attendance and an opportunity
would be offered him to preach. He writes: November 21, 1739.
Being strongly desired by many and hearing that a condemned malefactor
was to suffer that week, I went in company with about thirty more to
Trenton and reached thither by five in the evening. ... Knowing that
God called, I went out trusting in Divine strength and preached in the
Court House, and though I was quite barren and dry in the beginning
of the discourse, yet God enabled me to speak with great sweetness,
freedom and power before I had done. The unhappy criminal seemed hardened,
but I hope some good was done in the place. Whitefield visited
Trenton again in 1740 and was also in 1754 when he was advertised in
the Philadelphia papers to preach in Trenton on September 13 and 14
of that year. Another evangelist,
Thomas Webb, a Captain in the British army stationed at Albany, preached
in Trenton probably in 1768 en route to Philadelphia. Another early
itinerant, Richard Boardman, in a letter to Wesley, stated that he had
visited Trenton in 1769 and preached in the Presbyterian Church to a
large company. It is certain that there were Methodists in this vicinity
as early as 1768, for in that year Samuel Tucker and John Hart were
competitors for the Assembly and Tucker, so the record runs, “was supported
by the Episcopalians, Methodists and Baptists, and Hart by the Presbyterians.” The great missionary,
Francis Asbury, as recorded in Asbury's Journal, preached in
Trenton for the first time May 20, 1772. He was preaching here again
June 8 of the same year; also on June 29 and July 19. On July 22 he
speaks of finding “about nineteen persons” (Methodists). “They are a
serious people, and there is some prospect of much good being done in
this place.” For Asbury's services on these occasions the Society paid
him, July 23, 1 pound 10 shillings 6d. On April 22 - 23, 1773, Asbury
was again in Trenton, and he makes the following entry in his Journal:
“Before my return to Philadelphia I had the pleasure of seeing the
foundation laid of a new preaching house 35 feet by 30 feet.” According
to an old account book containing the minutes of the first board of
trustees of the Methodist Society January 9, 1773, to September 19,
1837, it would appear that Asbury was paid 10 shillings on April 22,
1773, presumably as a fee for his services on the occasion of laying
the foundation of the Methodist Chapel. In the History of State Street
Methodist Church prepared for the twenty-sixth anniversary of dedication,
June 14, 1886, by a committee composed of James F. Rusling, George W.
Macpherson and Ira W. Wood, these and additional references to the early
history of Methodism in Trenton will be found duly collated. THE FIRST METHODIST CHURCH - 1771
SOUTH BROAD STREET The
First Methodist Church of Trenton has the honor of being the first established
in New Jersey and probably the third in the whole country, ranking next
only after the John Street Church in New York City and St. George's
Church in Philadelphia. The
First Methodist Episcopal Church, known as the “Mother Church” by Trenton
Methodists, came into existence in the year 1771, five years before
the Declaration of Independence by the American Colonies. The beginning
of this historic church goes back to the organization of a class meeting
by Joseph Toy in 1771. In 1772 the Trenton Society, consisting of nineteen
members, secured subscriptions from a hundred and twenty-two persons
for the erection of a meeting house. The subscription list bears the
date November 25, 1772, and the total amount raised was 213 pounds.
A lot was purchased at the northeast corner of what is now Broad and
Academy Streets, on which a frame building thirty by thirty-five feet
was erected in 1773. Among
the nineteen original members appears the name of John Fitch, the inventor
of the steamboat. The total cost of this “Preaching House” was 193 pounds
6 shillings 2d. Among
the expenses incurred in erecting the building were the following items
for providing liquid refreshment for the workmen, as was customary in
those days, though the same now makes curious reading: 15
15 History of State Street M.E. Church,
p. 13. The
original frame meeting house was replaced in 1806 with a brick church
which was located on the same site and was called “Bethesda.” It was
sold in 1838 to the Orthodox Friends and was used by them until 1858.
The Methodists removed to the site of the present church on South Broad
Street and erected a brick building which was dedicated September 9,
1838, and called the “Trenton M.E. Church,” perhaps better known for
many years as the “Greene Street Church,” from the name the street then
bore. The
congregation in the course of its long history has had four different
official titles or names: first, “The Trustees of the Methodist Congregation
of Christians of the City of Trenton” ; second, “The Trustees of the
Methodist Episcopal Church of the City of Trenton”; third, “Greene Street
Methodist Episcopal Church of the City of Trenton” (incorporated March
18, 1866) ; fourth, and present name, “The First Methodist Episcopal
Church of New Jersey” (incorporated February 26, 1906). The
present commodious building of the First Church was dedicated May 5,
1895, Bishop Charles H. Fowler preaching in the morning and Dr. James
M. Buckley in the evening. It stands on the site of the old Greene Street
Church and cost, including additional land, about $80,000. When the
church and Sunday school auditoriums are thrown into one, it has a seating
capacity of two thousand.
On Sunday
November 26, 1922, and the week-days following, the First Church observed
with a series of elaborate and interesting services the sesquicentennial
of its foundation. Sermons were preached by several former pastors and
other prominent ministers. An honor roll of some twenty-three persons
then living who had a record of fifty years of membership was read.
16 16 The First Methodist Episcopal Church
of New Jersey, Sesquicentennial, 1772 - 1922, edited by Frank Duffield Lawrence and Howell Quigley. THE FRONT STREET M.E. CHURCH - l846
(SUBSEQUENTLY THE TRINITY M.E. CHURCH) In the
year 1846 a group withdrew from the original First Church and purchased
the property of the Dutch Reformed Church on Front Street, where was
organized and established the Front Street Methodist Episcopal Church.
This society began with an initial membership of eighty persons and
had grown to three hundred in 1864. About this time the Civil War dissensions
threw a dark cloud over this hitherto united and prosperous church and
so acute became the crisis that a separation between the two factions
took place, resulting in the formation of two separate congregations,
Central and Trinity. After eighteen years of united history there thus
came about the establishment of two other churches and the elimination
of what had been known as the Front Street M.E. Church. UNION,
AFTERWARDS WESLEY M.E. CHURCH - 1851
CENTRE STREET NEAR LANDING The
Union M.E. Church grew out of cottage prayer meetings held by local
preachers from the Greene Street M.E. Church. The society was probably
organized early in 1851. The State Gazette for Monday,
August 4, 1851, contains an account of the cornerstone laying on Sunday,
August 3, 1851. The Rev. Charles Pitman, assisted by the Rev. F. A.
Morrel of the Greene Street M.E. Church, and the Rev, James Rogers of
the Front Street M.E. Church, laid the cornerstone. The dedication of
this building by Bishop Edmund S. Janes was on April 8, 1852, while
the New Jersey Annual Conference was in session. The Rev. J. N. Nesler
and James Rogers assisted. The Rev. J. N. Nester was the first pastor.
When the Union Street congregation sold its property, a site was bought
and a new church was erected an Centre Street, henceforth known as Wesley
M.E. Church. The
deed for the Wesley M.E. Church ground is dated November 26, 1888. This
ground was on Centre Street below Federal Street and the price paid
was $3,200. The new church building was dedicated on Sunday, November
17, 1889, and the Rev. W. J. Thorn of Baltimore preached the dedicating
sermon. This building was sold to the congregation of Ahovath Israel
in 1911 for $7,200. From the trustees of the First Baptist Church
of Trenton in 1911 the trustees of Wesley M.E. Church bought their present
church property for $4,300. This building was rededicated by District
Superintendent Alfred Wagg, D.D., in 1911, the Rev. G. W. Ridout then
being the pastor. STATE
STREET M.E. CHURCH - 1859
STATE AND STOCKTON STREETS Methodism
in Trenton, prior to 1859, was organized on the free-pew system. This
method was not in harmony with the wishes of some seventy people, who
on that account withdrew from the Greene Street M.E. Church in 1859
to organize a church of rented pews. This was the beginning of the State
Street M.E. Church. On
February 1, 1859, this group elected seven trustees and on the following
day the certificate of incorporation was executed and the name, “Trustees
of State Street M.E. Church” was taken. The
original incorporators were William C. Howell, W. S. Hutchinson, John
Whittaker, Daniel Bodine, Joseph McPherson, William Phillips and Isaac
Gould; all well-known and influential citizens. The
first pastor was the Rev. George W. Batchelder. Meetings were held in
Temperance Hall, where the congregation continued to worship until the
new church building was erected at the corner of State and Stockton
Streets. Bishop Scott assisted by several clergymen laid the cornerstone
of the present edifice on July 21, 1859. On June 14, 1860, the building
was dedicated by Bishop Janes, who was also assisted by many of the
clergy. The total cost of the church exclusive of the land was about
$27,000. The church building at the time was considered a model of ecclesiastical
architecture and was widely imitated or copied elsewhere in New Jersey.
On the westerly side of the church a parsonage was built in 1865
at a cost of about $10,000. In 1882 the old chapel, having proved inadequate
to the needs, was torn down and a new chapel erected of double the capacity
at a cost of $7,000. In its career of seventy years the State Street
Church has had a series of distinguished pastors and has numbered among
its members many of the best-known and influential citizens of Trenton,
Perhaps the chief figure among the laymen who have served the church
was General James F. Rusling, whose personality and writings have done
much to advance the cause of Methodism not only in this city but as
well through the State and country at large. 17 17 History of State Street M.E. Church,
1886. CADWALADER HEIGHTS M.E. CHURCH - 1860
STUYVESANT AVENUE AND OAK LANE The Cadwalader
Heights Church is the direct successor of the old Warren Street M.E.
Church which was organized in 1860 as a mission by a group belonging
to the First M.E. Church. In 1859 a lot was secured on North Warren
Street for a Sunday school that had been meeting in a school house on
the Pennington road. In 1860 this group assumed the name of the Warren
Street M.E. Church, though it was not until 1876, to accommodate a growing
and enterprising congregation, that a church was built on North Warren
Street. The influx of business on Warren Street and the expansion of
population westward prompted the congregation to sell this valuable
property to the “City Rescue Mission.” During the pastorate of the Rev.
Walter Atkinson a new church was built at the corner of Stuyvesant Avenue
and Oak Lane. This fine church perpetuates the memory of the old Warren
Street Church. TRINITY
M.E. CHURCH - 1865
PERRY STREET Trinity
Church, as the logical and legitimate successor to Front Street M.E.
Church, has had many financial trials and difficulties during its existence.
For a period the services were held in rented halls and subsequently
the congregation worshiped in what was known as the “Plank Church” on
Academy Street. This building gave way in 1869 to the present commodious
structure on Perry Street. After
a long struggle, a burdensome debt was finally paid off in 1918 during
the pastorate of the Rev. Charles H. Elder. In 1920 many improvements
were made to the church building, adding much to the beauty and comfort
of the edifice. These improvements entailed another indebtedness which
has since been paid off under the present pastor, the Rev. John Goorley. THE CENTRAL M.E. CHURCH - 1865
SOUTH BROAD AND MARKET STREETS The
Central M.E. Church came into existence in 1865 when 175 members withdrew
from the Front Street M.E. Church and constituted the beginning of this
new church enterprise. Bishop Edward R. Ames appointed the Rev. E. Stokes,
subsequently founder of the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting, to care for this
new child of Trenton Methodism. The first meetings were held in the
Mercer County Court House and subsequently at the residence of Ezekiel
Pullen on Market Street. The first Sunday school was held in the Market
Street Public School, but after April 30, 1865, the Sunday school was
held in Temperance Hall on Broad Street where it continued to assemble
until the basement of the church building was completed. On Thanksgiving
Day, November 29, 1865, Bishop Edmund S. Janes dedicated the basement
of the church to divine worship, The church edifice was completed in
1867 and was dedicated by Bishop Janes. THE
HAMILTON AVENUE M.E. CHURCH - 1872
HAMILTON AVENUE AND HUDSON STREET The
origin of the Hamilton Avenue Church dates back to a meeting held at
the home of George B. Whittaker on Hamilton Avenue on January 29, 1872.
Twelve persons were present who expressed the conviction that the time
had come to establish a Methodist Episcopal church in the rapidly growing
residence section of the city, then known as Chambersburg. On March
22, 1872, the presiding elder, the Rev. Samuel Vansant, called a meeting
at the home of Mr. Whittaker to consider the feasibility of forming
a new church society, and a board of trustees was elected composed of
the following persons: Moses Golding, Charles Carr, George B. Whittaker,
William Gagg, James S. West, James H. Whittaker and Richard Jackson.
A lot was purchased at the corner of Hamilton Avenue and Hudson Street
for the sum of $2,500. On November 2, 1872, the society was formally
organized, and the name, the Hamilton Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church,
was decided upon. The building was constructed and the first regular
service held in it was on Sunday, January 12, 1873, with the Rev. J.
R. Westwood as pastor. On Sunday March 2, 1873, the church was formally
dedicated by the Rev. John Heisler. The congregation grew until the
building would not hold the people who desired to attend, and in the
year 1893 it was decided to construct the present handsome building
of brownstone which was then and still remains one of the finest church
buildings in the New Jersey Conference. In the year 1910 the splendid
Sunday school building was erected, which makes the church plant perfect
in every detail. BROAD
STREET M.E. CHURCH - 1872
BROAD STREET AND CHESTNUT AVENUE In
the spring of 1869 General James F. Rusling of the State Street M.E.
Church called together the members of the class with other Methodists
residing in Chambersburg at the White School House on Prospect Street
now Whittaker Avenue, and organized a Methodist Sunday school.
In 1870 a local preacher and exhorter came every Sunday night to preach
and hold services in the school house. The society had long contemplated
building a house of worship and were encouraged by the Ruslings, who
promised to give lots for that purpose. On October 20, 1869, the Methodist
Society elected trustees, and a resolution was passed instructing the
trustees to assume the title “Trustees of the Broad Street Methodist
Episcopal Church.” On April 13, 1872, “The Linden Park Land Association
offered to convey to the trustees two building lots, provided that work
on the church building be commenced by the first of May 1872.” The trustees
accepted the offer, and on April 30, 1872, ground was broken and the
new church enterprise was started. In
1888 the property was enlarged at an expense of $5,000 and a parsonage
was also built on the lot adjoining the church. During the pastorates
of different ministers further improvements have been made both to the
church and the parsonage. On
October 22, 1927, the fifty-fifth anniversary was observed during the
pastorate of the Rev. H. D. Stratton. Many of the former pastors returned
to bring greetings and assist in the services. CLINTON
AVENUE M.E. CHURCH - 1875
On
April 28, 1852, when the Rev. C. F. Brown was pastor of the Greene Street
M.E. Church, it was decided to establish a mission school in the northeast
part of the city. Anthony Rainear, Israel Howell and Joseph Yard were
appointed a committee on site. A warm friend was found in John Hart,
in whose home the first session was held May 9, 1852. In 1853 the first
building was erected, called Homestead. In 1872 Trenton Circuit was
formed out of Homestead and Ruslingville, with the Rev. J. R. Westwood
as pastor. In 1873 a new church was built costing $2,800. In 1875 Homestead
withdrew from the circuit and the Rev. Samuel Bennett was appointed
pastor. The name of the church was changed from Homestead to Simpson,
December 13, 1880. On April 17, 1889, when the Rev. G. S. Messeroll
was pastor, a new edifice was built at a cost of $10,000. On the completion
of this building in 1890 the name of the church was changed to Clinton
Avenue M.E. Church. ST. PAUL’S M.E. CHURCH - 1890
WEST STATE STREET AND FISHER PLACE St. Paul's Church grew out of a Sunday school, known as the Passaic Street
Sunday School, which was organized by members of the Greene Street (First
Methodist) Church in 1890. In November of the same year the Church organization
was effected by the Rev. J. B. Graw, presiding elder of Trenton District,
and under the direction and leadership of the Rev. S. K. Hickman as
its first pastor. It was the day of small things, twenty-two charter
members and a Sunday school enrolment of twenty-four was the beginning. During the pastorate of the Rev. S. K. Hickman, the cornerstone of the Spring
Street Church was laid and the building completed. A Sunday school chapel
was added during the pastorate of the Rev. John W. Morris. In 1911, with
the Rev..Henry M. Lawrence as pastor, the lot at the corner of West
State Street and Fisher Place was purchased of Robert A. Montgomery
for the erection of a new church. The laying of the cornerstone took
place September 11, 1922. Dr. M. E. Snyder was in charge. Dr. Francis
H. Green, headmaster at Pennington Seminary, delivered the address,
the subject being “Building to Build,” and Dr. M. E. Snyder, district
superintendent, placed the stone in the foundation. The new church was
dedicated October 7, 1923, by Bishop John W. Hamilton of Washington,
D.C. The
original board of trustees were: Alfred S. Pittenger, Elijah Wagg, James
Ronan, James S. Kiger, Albert N. Clayton, Charles Pette and John Hoagland. The
present board of trustees are: Robert Appleton, A. T. Apgar, V. B. Holcombe,
O. V. H. Merrick, James M. Loyne, F. E, Snedeker, George L. Thompson,
Harry Sorter and James Sherrard. The congregation has had fifteen pastors,
the Rev. James Lord being the present one. THE
BROAD STREET PARK M.E. CHURCH - 1894
SOUTH BROAD STREET AND BUCHANAN AVENUE It was
due to the interest and efforts of General James F. Rusling and William
H. Rusling, who in 1894 gave four lots valued at $2,500 as a site for
a church, that the Broad Street Park Church came into existence. An
organization was effected the same year and the following trustees elected:
Andrew K. Rowan, James F. Rusling, William H. Rusling, Eugene F. Wiley,
Robert L. McNeal, Edward Openshaw and Henry C. Allen. The trustees requested
the State Street Church to assume the care and oversight of the congregation.
A frame church costing about $3,500 was built on the lot and dedicated
June 6, 1895. THE
CHAMBERS STREET M.E. CHURCH - 1904
CHAMBERS AND LIBERTY STREETS Some
members of the Broad Street M.E, Church united in 1904 to start a mission
at the corner of Chambers and Liberty Streets. The new enterprise assumed
the name of Chambers Street M.E. Church and was duly organized in April
1904. On July 28, 1893, the ground was broken for the erection of a
Sunday school building. The building site was the gift of Samuel K.
Wilson who also gave $700 toward the building. In the year 1904 the
Chambers Street Church was incorporated with the Rev. J. G. Edwards
as its first pastor. Prior to this the Rev. George W. Scarborough served
as pastor. The first trustees were Wm. E. Harris, Edward S. Chadwick,
George Udy, James Read and John Warner. GREENWOOD
AVENUE M.E. CIIURCH - 1908
GREENWOOD AND OLDEN AVENUES The
Greenwood Avenue Church was the outgrowth of a Sunday school organized
in the Cook School in 1907. In the following year, under the Rev. Alfred
Wagg, district superintendent, a society was organized which assumed
the name of Greenwood Avenue M.E. Church. The Church Extension Society
having purchased a lot from General James Rusling at the corner of Greenwood
and Olden Avenues, the first services were held there in a portable
building during the summer of 1908. The Rev. Frederick B. Harris was
appointed pastor. The cornerstone of the present edifice was laid December
31, 1910, and the building completed January 21, 1912. EDITOR'S
NOTE
Up to recent years
the tenure of stay of Methodist ministers in a community was so limited
that there was small opportunity for them to impress themselves upon
its common life or to take a leading part in its civic and religious
activities. In selecting the following names for mention out of the
multitude who have served in Trenton, of course no invidious distinction
is intended, since in any event only a few sketches could be given and
these seemed best to fulfil the conditions. BIOGRAPHICAL
SKETCHES
Daniel
P. Kidder, D.D.,
served as pastor of the First M.E. Church in 1843, when his labors were
so active and so devoted as to make him a notable success. For eleven
years he was editor of the Sunday school publications of the Methodist
Church. His notable success in editorial work and analytical theological
training caused him to be called to a professorship in Garrett Theological
Seminary, and also to Drew Theological Seminary, where he taught from
1856 to 1880. He was elected by General Conference as secretary to the
Board of Education of the Methodist Chusch. The church has awarded him
a place worthy of his genius as a teacher, preacher, writer and speaker.
Few men in the Methodist ministry have more indelibly impressed his
generation by his scholarly qualities and other notable gifts. Dr. Kidder
was born in New York City, and died in 1891. Isaac
Wiley, D.D.,
was the third pastor of the State Street M.E. Church. He was a man of
genius and a leader in Israel, and is still held in reverent memory
by the Methodists of Trenton and elsewhere. Owing to his scholarship
and other notable gifts, be became the twenty-fifth bishop of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, and was the only Trenton pastor to have achieved that
great honor. He died in Foo Chow, China, November 22, 1884, a brave
and self-sacrificing missionary. George
Bates Wight, D.D.,
was born in Boston, Mass., October 14, 1841. His education was received
in private schools and the College of the City of New York. He equipped
himself for school teaching and continued in that work until the Civil
War started, when he enlisted in Company G, First New Jersey Infantry.
In November 1862 he was commissioned Lieutenant in Company I of his
regiment. He remained in military service until his discharge, caused
by ill health contracted by confinement in Libby Prison. He was first
commissioner of the Department of Charities and Corrections of New Jersey.
Doctor Wight was secretary of the New Jersey Conference for fourteen
years, also serving as pastor of the First M.E. Church of Trenton from
1887 to 1901, where he is still affectionately remembered. He died on
June 1, 1916, and the funeral services were held from the First Church
with interment in Riverview Cemetery, Trenton. John
D. Fox, D.D.,
was born in Pikesville, Bucks County, Pa., January 7, 1851. He was licensed
to preach by the quarterly conference of Village Green Circuit on July
5, 1873, and admitted to the Philadelphia Conference in the spring of
1874. After occupying pulpits of note in the Philadelphia Conference,
he was transferred in 1901 to the State Street Church of Trenton where
he remained until 1910. Dr. Fox was a fine Shakespearean scholar and
a preacher of rare merit. In the brotherhood of preachers he was styled
the “Beloved John.” He died in Philadelphia and the funeral services
were held in Covenant Church, Philadelphia, on October 10, 1921. He
was buried in the preacher's plot at Mt. Moriah Cemetery. John
Handley, D:D.,
was regarded as one of the most eloquent men in the New Jersey Conference.
Dr. Handley was chaplain in the regular United States Army during the
World War and served in France. He was also chaplain to the Second Regiment,
National Guard of New Jersey, for ten years. He was appointed district
superintendent in the New Jersey Conference where he ably served for
three years. He was appointed delegate for three successive General
Conferences. As a preacher, he was expository, scholarly and remarkably
forceful. Born in New York City, he attended school at Pennington Seminary
and later was graduated from Rutgers College. He took a degree of Doctor
of Philosophy from New York University. Dickinson College gave him the
degree of Doctor of Divinity. He died in the Methodist Hospital in Philadelphia
on March 26, 1926. Funeral services were held in the First Church of
Camden, N.J., the interment being in Greenwood Cemetery at Trenton. Josephus
Leander Sooy was
born in Green Bank, N.J., March 1, 1849, and died in Rochester, N.Y.,
January 27, 1915. He was graduated from Princeton College in the class
of 1871. In 1895 his alma mater conferred upon him the degree of Doctor
of Divinity. He received his theological training in Drew Seminary.
He came to the State Street Church, Trenton, in 1876 and served his
full term. He then served churches in Kentucky, New York, and Camden,
N.J. He was again pastor of the State Street Church, 1885‑88.
He was called again to the State Street Church several years later but
declined because the church in Wheeling, where he was then serving,
refused to release him. In 1908 he was made superintendent of the Buffalo,
N.Y., district and six years later of the Rochester district. Dr. Sooy
was an author of repute, Among his works were Bible Talks for Children,
Helps for the Devotional Hour, The Apostolic Twelve Before and After
Pentecost, and Bibliography of Methodist Literature. He was
interested in science, geology being his favorite pastime. BY THE EDITOR Charles
H. Elder was
born in Camden, N.J., March 30, 1855. He came of sturdy American stock,
of the plain hard-working sort, a fact of which he was always proud.
There were no high schools during the period of his youth, but be spent
two years in the highest grade in Camden public schools. He found his
vocation in the old Third Street Church, now the First M.E Church of
Camden, and became an ardent Christian worker. In preparation for the
work of the ministry he took a course of studies at Pennington Seminary.
After three years he was forced to discontinue his studies, owing to
a nervous breakdown. His interest in the work of the ministry remained
unabated and he took a charge at Hamilton Square, N.J., under the district
superintendent, the Rev. S. Vansant. He was pastor of Wesley M.E. Church
for five years. Afterwards he also served Trinity M.E. Church for eighteen
and one-half years until he was appointed chaplain at the New Jersey
State Prison where he was serving at the time of his sudden death March
11, 1928. The long residence of Mr. Elder in Trenton and his wide association
with the religious and charitable life of the city, particularly his
ministry among the fraternal societies and lodges, served to make him
a familiar and beloved figure in the community. His unprecedented term
of service as a Methodist minister in charge of one and the same congregation
for over eighteen years made him the dean and veteran of the Methodist
Church in this community. Probably there is no minister in the city
now or in the past who in the course of his ministry performed so many
marriages or conducted so many funerals. As the Protestant chaplain
for the past ten years in the State Prison, be ministered to hundreds
of the inmates and won the friendship and gratitude of a host of these
unfortunates who after their discharge still continued to keep in personal
touch with him and to testify by their altered lives to the permanent
value of his devoted Christian services in their behalf. Mr.
Elder's funeral was held in Trinity M.E. Church on Wednesday, March
15, 1928, in the presence of an overflowing congregation, and many warm
tributes were paid to his character and work, including one by Maud
Ballington Booth of the Volunteers of America. MOUNT ZION AFRICAN M.E. CHURCH - 1911
135 - 137 PERRY STREET BY THE REVEREND CHARLES E. WILSON, PASTOR OF MOUNT ZION A.M.E. CHURCH The
Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church, the first colored religious
organization of Trenton, had its beginning in a religious soclety known
as “The Religious Society of Free Africans of the City of Trenton” and
effected its first incorporation February 16, 1811. The trustees making
the application were James Berry, Julius Stewards, Leonard Ennis, Sampson
Peters and Francis Miller. In 1816, the year of the first and organizing
General Conference of the A.M.E. Church, Richard Allen, the founder,
organizer and first bishop of the denomination, visited the organization
and admitted them into the connection, The congregation for many years
was known as the “Mount Zion African Church.” Sampson Peters, one of
the original incorporators, was a preacher and became the first regular
pastor in 1816 serving until 1819. The first building was erected in
1819 on the plot now occupied by the present building. A reincorporation
was effected July 18, 1834, adopting the present name; the trustees
were Leonard Scott, William Water, Henry Pearson, George B. Cole, John
Treyer, George McMullen and Thomas Voorhees. The building was remodelled
in 1858. Eighteen years later, in 1876, under the pastorate of the Rev.
John W. Stevenson, the building was torn down and bodies in the old
graveyard in the rear of the building were removed to a plot in East
Trenton, known afterwards as “Locust Hill Cemetery,” and in the place
of the old building the present one was erected at a cost of $10,000.
During the pastorate of the Rev. Mr. Stevenson the entire debt was liquidated
through the assistance of generous white people, among whom were Mr.
Joseph McPherson, a trustee of the State Street M.E. Church, Mr. Chancellor
Green, the Rev. Mr. Sooy and the Rev. John Hall, pastor of the Presbyterian
Church, who prepared the financial appeal to the public. The congregation
owns a parsonage which, with the church building, is free from debt
and valued at $80,000. The membership of the church is above five hundred,
and the present pastor, the Rev. Chas. E. Wilson, conducts a junior
church with a membership of eighty-five. Among the fifty-two pastors
serving the church for these one hundred and eleven years, three became
bishops of the connection. The longest pastorate was that of the Rev.
Solomon Porter Hood (1910 – 16), who afterwards became United States
Minister to the Republic of Liberia. OTHER A.M.E. CONGREGATIONS
There
are three other congregations of the A.M.E. connection. St. Paul's Church
at Willow and Pennington, and St, Mark's Church on Jefferson Street,
and also a small mission. There is also another M.E. church for colored
people, known as Asbury, on North Montgomery Street. A
GRAVEYARD FOR COLORED PEOPLE
As
early as 1779 there was a small burial place for colored people (slaves)
adjacent to land occupied by the Friends' Meeting House at Montgomery
and East Hanover Streets. This
cemetery had its inception in the generosity of John Reynolds and Catherine
his wife, which is exhibited in a conveyance made by them to Joseph
Milnor under date of May 28, 1779, 18 wherein they
“reserve twenty feet square of ground on the northeast corner of the
. . . lot of land adjoining the land of William Tucker and the Quaker
Burying Ground for the use of burying the Negroes that now are or hereafter
may belong to the families of William Morris, dec'd, and Mary Derry.” 18 Secretary's Deeds, A‑L, pp. 115, 118. The
aforesaid grant is further confirmed in a deed from Israel Morris (son
of William Morris, deceased, and who sold the property to John Reynolds
on September 23, 1778) 19 to Joseph Milnor, dated October
5, 1782. 20 19 ibid., A-L, p. 112. 20 ibid., A‑N, p. 97. In
the year 1811 the forerunner of the Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal
Church was organized in Trenton, and it is obvious that that congregation
subsequently acquired title to this burial plot above mentioned, together
with adjacent lands, for the purpose of establishing a cemetery for
the burial of its deceased members, although no deed of such holdings
by the church is of record. However,
through a resolution adopted by the Trustees of the Mount Zion African
Methodist Episcopal Church on the twentieth of March, 1861, Peter Perrine,
president of the board of trustees, on the same date conveyed title
of the “Burying Ground” to Joseph B. and William S. Yard, which conveyance
will be found in the Mercer County Deeds, Volume 50, at page 318. This
instrument shows that the graveyard lot had a frontage of 32 feet 4
inches on the north side of Hanover Street, adjacent to the ground of
the Society of Friends, with an irregular depth ranging from 156 feet
8 inches to 152 feet 6 inches. Them
appears to have been a little chapel or school house on the premises.
While excavating recently for the foundations of the Y.W.C.A. building
several skeletons were unearthed. |
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