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 HISTORICAL DISCOURSE, 
 
 DELIVERED 
 
 ON SUNDAY, JULY 16th, 1876, 
 
 IN THE 
 
 FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 
 Springfield, N. J., 
 
 BY 
 
 / 
 Rev. henry w. teller, 
 
 Pastor of the Church. 
 
 NEWARK, N J.: 
 
 Printed by Ward & Tichenor, 832 & 834 Broad St. 
 
 1876. 
 
 ^^_,. OF ?mCETo> 
 
 JUN 20 1997 
 ^fOlOGiCALSt^ 
 
Spbingfield, August Ist, 1876. 
 Rev. H. W. Teller: 
 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 As. many of the members of our Church 
 and Congregation have expressed a desire for a copy of the His- 
 torical Sermon preached on the morning of July 16th, we would 
 request you to furnish us a copy of the same for publication. 
 
 Yours, respectfully, 
 
 A. D. TRAPHAGEN, 
 SAM'L C. SMITH, 
 JACOB FRENCH, 
 R. M. BABBIT, 
 O. H. SOMMERS, 
 WM. S. SMITH, 
 H. M. GRAVES. 
 
HISTORICAL DISCOURSE. 
 
 "And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou? And Jacob said unto 
 Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty 
 years." — Genesis xlvii: 8, 9. 
 
 ^|I|T is the recommendation of General Assembly tliat 
 ^1^ during this year sometime the pastor of each church 
 "^^ should preach to his people a historical sermon ; not 
 necessarily a "Centennial" sermon — for only a compara- 
 tively limited number of the churches would be able to do 
 that, as the great majority are not yet of age — but a sermon 
 that shall gather up the more important facts of its history, 
 that they may be preserved for future generations. 
 
 The wisdom of such a course will be seen at a single 
 glance. We are a young Nation yet, and the means of 
 obtaining an accurate history is within our reach. Many 
 interesting incidents and events — running back to the very 
 beginning of our national life — may now be easily collected 
 and as easily preserved ; and we owe it to the generations 
 that shall follow after us, that these things — which belong to 
 all ages — shall be so garnered and guarded as not to be lost. 
 
 What would we. not now give for an accurate and minute 
 history of the ancient kingdoms of the earth, such as we 
 would now have, if early in the course of their existence, 
 they had each adopted a plan like that proposed by our 
 
4 HISTORICAL DISCOURSE, 
 
 Greneral Assembly ? The nearest approach we have to it, 
 is the Bible history of the Israelites ; and how full of inter- 
 est is that to every intelligent and appreciative reader. 
 And will not the people who will be living two thousand 
 years from now, have at least an equal desire to know all 
 that they may of the events transpiring in the present, and 
 shaping the destiny of this great Republic ? 
 
 It is well, then, that each church, and each town, should 
 lay hold upon the opportunity while it" may, to rescue its 
 past from oblivion. And not alone for the benefit of future 
 generations should this be done, but also for the instruction 
 of the present. That we may see in our path the finger 
 of God, and realize in some measure the goodness and 
 mercy that have followed us ; and hear, over all the cir- 
 cumstances of the rolling years, the voices of his providence 
 calling us to a higher national and individual life. 
 
 In preparing a historical discourse for our own church 
 and township, we have chosen the text we have for two 
 reasons : First, because of the general appropriateness of 
 the question, "How old art thou?" In this Centennial 
 year, (which seems to have been set apart by common con- 
 sent to the work of retrospection,) all questions, and all 
 forms of salutation, are merged in this : " How old art 
 thou?" 
 
 The old folks are having things all their own way this 
 year. Old books, old manuscripts, old legends, are in great 
 demand. Nothing is valued very highly unless it can show 
 some age. Musty records are hunted up, moss-covered 
 monuments are carefully studied, old roads are gone over, 
 old houses are visited, the roots of ancient family trees are 
 dug after, and men are inquiring of everything that has a 
 venerable appearance, " How old art thou ?" 
 
SPRINGFIELD, N. J. 5 
 
 In the second place, the text is chosen for the peculiar 
 appropriateness of the answer ; for it is just one hundred 
 and thirty years since the first pastor was installed here, 
 over the people of God, and he was settled immediately 
 after the church was organized. 
 
 So, as they who are interested in the old church ask, in 
 the language of the text, " How old art thou ?" we can 
 imagine it, as also in the language of the text, replying, 
 " The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred 
 and thirty years." 
 
 And what a record of good and evil, of human love and 
 hate, of passionate praj^ers and maledictions, of alternating 
 hopes and fears, of solemn consecrations and shameful back- 
 slidings, of glorious triumphs and inglorious defeats, of 
 homes built up and filled u]3 and then deserted, of darkened 
 birth and death chambers, of fair forms wreathed with 
 orange blossoms and then covered with crape, of graves 
 opened and flowers above them kept fresh and fragrant for 
 a season by our tears and then neglected ; what a record of 
 such things, I say, (strangely varied and brought close 
 together by the rush of years,) is contained in that long 
 stretch of time, "a hundred and thirty years." 
 
 A history of the church is, in one respect, a history of 
 the town, and a history of the town is a history of the 
 country. We can scarcely go over the whole ground in a 
 single discourse, but a few general facts are essential to an 
 intelligent review of our local history. 
 
 The precise date of the first settlement within the limits 
 of New Jersey is not positively known. We know, how- 
 ever, that there was a Dutch trading post at Bergen as early 
 as the year 1622. 
 
 The settlement at Elizabethtown, made in lee-l by erai- 
 
6 HISTORICAL DISCOURSE, 
 
 grants from Long Island, was really, it is supposed, the be- 
 ginning of colonization in this State. 
 
 In that same year the English King granted to the Duke 
 of York, (as a slight token of respect, or for some other 
 equally commendable reason,) the whole State of New Jersey 
 and a part of New York, and the Duke sold the State of 
 New Jersey to a brace of English worthies called Lord 
 Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. Which transaction, on 
 the part of his kingship and dukeship, had about as much 
 right and religion in it as though I should give to one of 
 my elders the little Island of Great Britain, and he should 
 sell it in two slices to two members of this congregation. 
 
 Shortly after the settlement at Elizabethtown, Newark, 
 Middletown and Shrewsbury were founded. 
 
 We would say right here, that it does not become us to 
 boast too loudly of our gray hairs, either as a town or a 
 church, for there are a good many in the State more vener- 
 able than we. As a church, we have a near neighbor that 
 over a year ago had occasion to rejoice in its two hundredth 
 anniversary ; I refer to the church at Woodbridge. The 
 oldest church in the State — the First Church of Eliza- 
 beth, of which Rev. Dr. Kempshall is now pastor — is two 
 hundred and ten years old. The town of Springfield was 
 not settled until fifty-three years after the settlement of 
 Elizabethtown. The State had at the time something over 
 forty thousand inhabitants. The Briant family was the first 
 to settle in this section of the country, in 1717, and the 
 Stites family must have followed immediately after. For 
 awhile there were but three families, it is said, between Mor- 
 ristown and Elizabethtown. Imagine, if you can, this 
 extensive tract of country, now so thickly populated and 
 seamed with railroads, and dotted over with villages and 
 
SPRINGFIELD, N, J, 7 
 
 covered with great mills and factories; think of it, with 
 only three houses in it. These broad fields uncultivated, 
 these hills covered with dense forests, these streams hidden 
 by the wild growths of nature, and only one road, more 
 nearly resembling a modern cart-path at that, threading its 
 uncertain way from one town to the other. 
 
 In 1788 the village of Springfield consisted of three 
 houses, occupied by Thomas Denman, and the Van Winkle 
 and Whitehead families. But from this time the number 
 of inhabitants, in the village and adjoining country, must 
 have increased rapidly. 
 
 It was in those early days that the people in all these 
 regions round about Elizabethtown, having but the one 
 church to worship in, used to walk to it from Rahway, West- 
 field, Springfield and Connecticut Farms. Whether they 
 were in the habit of going to and fro to both services, or of 
 attending as regularly on rainy Sundays as clear ones, we 
 have no means at this late day of determining. The church 
 in Springfield, (which is the only child of the Connecticut 
 Farms Church, and one of the grand-children of the First 
 Church of Elizabeth,) was organized twenty-nine years after 
 the first settlement here. It belonged originally to the 
 Presbytery of New York. A house of worship was imme- 
 diately built, and was situated about half way between the 
 present parsonage and the Millburn depot. It was very 
 near, if not on exactly the same spot, where Mr. John 
 Meeker's store is now standing. There was also a grave- 
 yard there. Tradition says the church was built of logs. 
 It was completed, and the first pastor. Rev. Timothy Syms,* 
 was mstalled in 1746, just one hundred and thirty years 
 
 * I give the name as I find it in a deed given in 1751, which is unquestionably 
 correct; though elsewhere it is written "Symmes," 
 
8 HISTORICAL DISCOURSE, 
 
 ago. Mr. Syms had charge of this church, in connection 
 with the one at New Providence. He was grandfather, we 
 are told, of one Capt. Syms, who had a novel theory of the 
 structure of the earth, that is said to have excited a good 
 deal of attention at the time. You will have to look pretty 
 sharply, though, in the Cycloposdias of the day to find out 
 just what his peculiar notion was ; for there have been so 
 many novel theories invented since, that his is almost lost 
 in the multitude. He believed that the earth was hollow, 
 and that the inside was inhabited, or might be, just as well 
 as the outside. The entrance to this inner world was at 
 the poles. He proved the sincerity of his views by peti- 
 tioning Congress for means to fit out an expedition to test 
 the truth of them, but Congress very wisely concluded not 
 to grant his request, as there was yet plenty of room on the 
 outside of the globe for all the people. The only merit his 
 theory possessed was originality, and the only thing that 
 saved both him and it from oblivion, was that he was a 
 kind of pioneer in that species of novelty. 
 
 Mr. Syms, the grandfather of the captain — and famous 
 chiefly for being his grandfather — was pastor of the church 
 for four years, until 1750, after which there was a vacancy 
 for thirteen years. While he was pastor, and the first 
 church was still standing, there was given to the congrega- 
 tion a tract of land consisting of one hundred acres, in the 
 following way and upon the following conditions. I quote 
 from the original deed as it was given by James Alexander, 
 who was one of the then Lord Proprietors of the Eastern 
 Division of New Jersey, and who was appointed by his 
 associates for the purpose. The deed bears date March 
 29th, 1751, and reads as follows : " And as to the other 
 one hundred acres of the premises," (one hundred acres 
 
SPRINGFIELD, N. J. 9 
 
 were first deeded to Kev. Timothy Sims as his own private 
 property,) " the same is to be to the sole and only proper use, 
 benefit and behoof of the said Timothy Syms and Peter 
 Dickinson, their heirs and assigns, rendering therefore year- 
 ly, one pint of spring water ^ when demanded on the premises. 
 Provided, always, and it is hereby declared, that the last 
 hundred acres is to be held by the said Timothy Syms and 
 Peter Dickinson, and the survivors of them and their heirs, 
 in trust ; to be a glebe for the use of the minister of the 
 said parish of Springfield — for the time being — forever ; 
 and never to be sold, or disposed of, to any other use. But 
 the said trustees and their assigns shall and may, from time 
 to time, at the request of the minister and the vestry of the 
 said church of Springfield — for the time being — grant and 
 convey the same to such other trustees as they shall from 
 time to time name, for the use and purpose aforesaid, and 
 no other.' 
 
 For years the chief value of this land was in the forests 
 that covered it, which enabled the church to add to their 
 other inducements in seeking a pastor, an abundance of 
 firewood. 
 
 Whatever became of the first log house of worship, T 
 have not been able to learn. There is no record of it, save 
 the single fact— stated in an old manuscript — that it was 
 built. It might have been destroyed, or very likely it was 
 abandoned as soon as they were able to put up another. 
 We know very well that the Puritan principles of our fore- 
 fathers would not suffer them to worship very long in a 
 temple of logs, while they dwelt in their ceiled houses. 
 
 The second meeting-house was built in 1761, fifteen years 
 after the first, upon flie spot where the present one is stand- 
 ing, and stood liere for nineteen years, 
 2 
 
10 HISTORICAL DISCOURSE, 
 
 In 1763, Eev. Mr. Ker was installed, and was here two 
 years, wlien there was a vacancy of nine years. There is 
 no account of any of the events transpiring in all that time, 
 except that the first parsonage was raised Aug. 22d, 1764. 
 When the record is again I'esumed, it is at a period imrne- 
 diatel}^ preceding the Eevolution, for this second church 
 was the centre of revolutionary interest for the town of 
 Springfield. 
 
 In November, 1778, it was so taken up with public stores, 
 that the congregation abandoned it for the time being, and 
 fitted up the garret of the old parsonage as a temporary 
 place of worship. Thus was the building itself dedicated 
 to the country's service, in the name of the God of Battles. 
 How small and mean the spirit of revenge that afterward 
 burned it to the ground, and yet a spirit worthy the tyr- 
 anny that employed mercenary troops and savages to carry 
 on an unholy war. 
 
 On October 12th, 1773, a call was given Rev. John Close. 
 He was offered $250, besides the parsonage and firewood, 
 but for some reason kept secret from the ages, the offer 
 was not accepted. Perhaps he was a young man, and mod- 
 est, and the offer seemed too great. During this year. Rev. 
 Mr. Caldwell — who was called the "high priest of the Rev- 
 olution," whose wife was shot at Connecticut Farms shortly 
 l)efore the battle of Springfield, and who was himself mur- 
 dered the year following at the Elizabethtown ferry — 
 preached several times to this congregation. 
 
 On October 10th, 1774, Rev. Jacob Y^ Artsdalen,* whose 
 remains are resting in our cemetery, came before the people 
 and "preached a lecture," — as the record has it — which 
 
 Mi 
 
 * I give the name as I find it in his own handwriting. It was afterwards writ- 
 ten Vanarsdalen. and still later Vanarsdale, or Vanarsdal. 
 
SPRINGFIELD, N. J. 11 
 
 was SO well received that it secured him a call at once. He 
 came in December of the same year, upon a salary of $250, 
 together with the use of the parsonage and the inevitable 
 firewood, which was to be drawn to his* door. The salary 
 was afterward increased to $300. 
 
 The meagre support received from the churches had a 
 tendency to make some of the pastors pretty sharp finan- 
 ciers. As an illustration of this, there is still in existence 
 a fifteen hundred dollar bond, given by the Tinistees of the 
 church to Mr. Y^^ Artsdalen upon the condition, that if the 
 Trustees paid "promptly every year," in "quarterly i)ay- 
 ments," their pastor's salar}^, and "well and truly" provided 
 " a sufficient quantity of firewood," and kept him " in quiet 
 and ])eaceable possession" of the parsonage, "with all the 
 appurtenances," and kept "the same in good repair," ac- 
 cording " to the true intent and meaning" of their agree- 
 ment, then the obligation of the bond was "to be void, 
 otherwise to remain in full force and virtue." 
 
 It does not prove the pastor avaricious, but only that his 
 salary was so small that he could not afford to run any risks. 
 He evidently did not consider their word quite as good as 
 their bond. Let it be said, however, to the credit of the 
 church, that every obligation was promptly met, and in due 
 time the bond was canceled. Mr. Y^ Artsdalen served the 
 church faithfully for twenty-seven years, and resigned his 
 charge only when failing health compelled him to do so. 
 One evidence of the people's affection for him is the fact 
 that in May, 1778, they gave him a vacation of six months, 
 and continued his salary. You must remember that that 
 was not as much the practice then as it is now. It was 
 something more than mere conventional courtesy, or a forced 
 concession to a growing custom, that led a people in those 
 
12 HISTORICAL DISCOURSE, 
 
 days to grant their pastor a leave of absence. He was ar- 
 dently devoted to his country, and to the work of the Mas- 
 ter. The time of his ministry included the whole period of 
 the Revolution. I^e saw his church, togethei* with many 
 of the homes of his parishioners, reduced to ashes ; but 
 nothing daunted he continued his work. He gathered his 
 scattered flock together again, as a father would gather his 
 children, and releasing them from their bonded obligation 
 to pay him a stipulated salary, he hired to them from year 
 to year, accepting just what they could afford to give. After 
 the burning of the church we next find him preaching to 
 his heroic band of christian patriots, in the old parsonage 
 barn. Why they did not return to the garret we are not 
 informed, but very likely the congregation had by this time 
 outgrown it ; oi-, what is equally probable, they might have 
 thought that as they were now driven out of their church 
 mdelinitely, the barn would be more convenient. They 
 certainly had the grace and the good sense to make the best 
 of the situation. They were "cast down, but not dis- 
 couraged." As soon as they fixed upon their place of wor- 
 ship they agreed to ceil it up to the plate and gable end 
 beams. In the following year they had put in galleries, 
 with the foremost seats on the right-hand side of the pulpit 
 reserved for the singers. In this rudely fitted up temple 
 they must have worshiped ten years. 
 
 September 25th, 1786, four years after the barn was fairly 
 fitted up, the church was incorporated under the name of 
 the " First Congregation of the Presbyterian Church in 
 Springfield." The seal of the church — a Dove with an 
 Olive branch — was not adopted until December, 1792. In 
 1786 they began to talk of building for themselves the third 
 house of worship. Four years, at least, was spent in work- 
 
SPRINGFIELD, N. J. 18 
 
 ing up an interest and laying plans, and devising means, be- 
 fore the building was fairly begun. It was first agreed to 
 build of brick and stone. A burnt child dreads the fire ; 
 they wanted something that wouldn't burn. But the first 
 plan was given up as too expensive for their limited means. 
 Twelve months after they concluded upon cedar shingles, 
 .and finally, in 1791, the frame went up. It was a time of 
 general rejoicing to both pastor and people. Work and 
 material were contributed by the members of the congrega- 
 tion as they were able. Men came bringing their tools and 
 the best timber their farms could furnish ; booths were 
 erected on the ground, where the women prepared meals 
 for the volunteer workmen ; contributions were solicited 
 from the churches of the Presbytery of New York; the 
 bell was contributed by Mr. Samuel Tyler, and thus the 
 work went forward to completion, and grand old Jacob V" 
 Artsdalen was the first to preach in the new church as he 
 had been the last to preach in the old. 
 
 Some of you will remember this church as it was origi- 
 nally, just as it came from the hands of that earnest 
 band of workmen. You have in your memory an un- 
 fading picture of its old fashioned, straight-backed pews ; 
 its broad centre aisle, its middle seats that had no par- 
 tition running through them, as these have ; its narrow 
 side aisles which made a passage for the benefit of the 
 wall seats only, as they only opened into them, the centre 
 seats being closed up at the ends nearest the walls. You 
 have not forgotten, either, the quaint old circular pulpit, 
 mounted upon a high column like a huge barrel, elevat- 
 ed so as to overlook the body of the church, and at the 
 same time sweep the galleries. And you will remember 
 also, the great sounding board, back of the pulpit and di- 
 
14 HISTOKIGAL DISCOURSE, 
 
 rectly over the preacher's head, that caused 3^ou always to 
 think of the wings that overshadowed the Mercy Seat, 
 though it never 1)ore to them the slightest resemblance. 
 Such was the primitive glory of this latter house, as some 
 of you well remember. In it Mr. Y^ Artsdalen preached 
 as long as he was able, and finally when he could come no 
 longer, he was brought one day by loving hands that his. 
 sorrowing people might look upon his face once more, and 
 for the last time. 
 
 On the first of Ma}'-, 1800, he stopped preaching, but he 
 remained in the parsonage, and his salary was continued. 
 On May 1st, 1801, he was dismissed and one year's further 
 salary was voted to him. In 1803 he entered into his rest. 
 
 It is recorded that near the close of his ministry Rev. 
 Jonathan Elmer preached for him ; and as he was without 
 charge he recpiested a contribution, which was accordingly 
 taken up and amounted to eight dollars and some cents. It 
 may seem to us an unimportant item to be made a matter 
 of record, but we must acknowleilge that he was a better 
 judge as to its importance. In March, 1801, it was decided 
 to hire Rev. Gershom Williams for one year from May 1st. 
 In October of the same year a call was given him, which he 
 seems to have had under consideration for a long while, for 
 the first Communion after his acceptance of it was on the 
 23d of May, 1802. His ministry here was marked by the 
 most powerful revival that ever occurred in this churcli. 
 He has left on record, in his own hand-writing, two bits of 
 personal experience that are as windows looking into the 
 heart of the man, and disclosing something of the spiritual 
 moods to which he appears to have been subject. Like the 
 Psalmist David he was susceptible of the highest exaltation 
 and deepest depression. On September 9th, 1804, he went 
 
SPRINGFIELD, N. J. 15 
 
 home from the Lord's Supper and wrote, in the bitterness of 
 his spirit, '' Not one new member admitted. O melanchoh^ 
 instance, once repeated since my public ministry began. 
 May this evidence of barrenness humble me, and lead all 
 the Disciples to ardent prayer." Four years the leanness 
 continued, and there were but nine added to the church in 
 the whole time. Then there was an addition of thirty at 
 one Communion, and at another, in the same year, of fifteen. 
 After that there was no general work of grace until 1814 
 On May 8th of that year the faithful pastor goes from the 
 breaking of bread to his study in a far different mood from 
 that which carried him there on that dark September day, 
 ten years before. The fruit is at length ripening and drop- 
 ping into his hands, and his heart is full. He sits down 
 and writes a long list of names — every one of which he 
 counts as a star — and then under the list he writes, " The 
 above one hundred and one names were all added to the 
 church in one day — of whom forty- one then received bap- 
 tism. Wondrous day of the Lord ! never to be forgotten." 
 It was indeed a wondrous day for the Springfield church. 
 These galleries were packed, until it was feared they would 
 break down ; these seats and aisles were crowded to over- 
 flowing with penitent saints and sinners, that had been 
 alike quickened into new life. Do you think that pastor's 
 joy could have been measured that day by any earthly 
 measurement? There are many treasures in this world 
 that men reckon -of priceless value, and count with pride 
 and delight, but there are none like the souls that are saved 
 for Jesus. We know nothing of the fullness of joy until 
 we sit down to number the saved through our instrumental- 
 ity, who shall shine as stars hereafter in our crown of re- 
 joicing. 
 
16 HISTORICAL DISCOURSE, 
 
 Just at the close of Mr. Williams' ministry, in 1818, the 
 tirst Sunday School known in this part of the country was 
 started by Miss Catharine Campbell, in a room fitted up for 
 the purpose on her father's premises. The school began 
 with three teachers — Miss Catharine Campbell, (now Mrs. 
 Wilbur of Orange,) Miss Eliza Campbell, and Miss Diiyck- 
 inck, and with one hundred scholars. Miss Eliza taught 
 forty of the larger boys, Miss Catharine twenty-five of the 
 larger girls, and Miss Duyckinck took the remaining boys 
 and girls. A few months later, the school more immediately 
 connected with this church was organized by Mrs. Mary 
 Ten Broeck, (now Mrs. Atwater of New Haven,) and a 
 young lady, (now Mrs. Samuel Halsey of Newark.) It 
 began with about five teachers and a hundred scholars. 
 Neither school had any male teachers at the beginning. 
 The good brethren wanted to see the innovation a success, 
 before they lent it any assistance that would be likely to 
 compromise their Christian standing. 
 
 Sunday Schools were then a new thing under the sun. 
 A good many of the churches, and not a few of the pastors, 
 regarded them suspiciously, as calculated to draw away the 
 general interest fi'om the long established means of grace 
 and methods of salvation. The people also shared this 
 want of confidence in them, or else were at a loss to know 
 just what was intended by them. Some had the impression 
 that it was a money-making operation. One woman — to 
 whom one of the teachers went asking if her children could 
 attend — wanted first to know " how much she was going 
 to charge a quarter." There were difficulties to overcome, 
 but the schools were successfully established, and from the 
 first were greatly prospered and blessed. They are not 
 yet done bearing fruit. 
 
SPRINGFIELD, N. J. 17 
 
 Eev. James W. Tucker, who succeeded Mr. Williams, 
 came here fi'om New England. He was installed August 
 4th, 1818, and was here but a few months. He died sud- 
 denly February 11th, 1819. He is described as a man of 
 remarkable pulpit ability, having few equals in his day in 
 this respect. He was warmly in sympathy with the two 
 infant Sunday Schools, and greatly endeared himself to the 
 earnest workers of the church during his short stay among 
 them. 
 
 Following him in 1820, was Eev. Elias W. Crane. He 
 was installed January 5th, and preached here six years. He 
 was dismissed October 17th, 1826. A large number were 
 added to the church during his ministry. While here he 
 preached the first historical sermon, but there is no copy of 
 it to be found at present. It was during his time that a 
 decided novelty, in the shape of a stove, was introduced 
 into the church. Hitherto foot-stoves, heated with corn- 
 cobs, and fiat stones, well toasted and wrapped up, together 
 with the warming power of the pulpit, and the inward heat 
 of the spirit, had been relied upon. But the people were 
 getting more tender, or fastidious, or both. There seems 
 not to have been, however, as much opposition here to the 
 ungodly thing, as in many other places. It came and took 
 peaceable possession of the centre aisle about one-third of 
 the way from the door. The pipe ran straight up toward 
 the pulpit, to within a few feet of it, and then sent out two 
 arms at right angles, that were thrust out through these 
 side windows. As there were no chimneys, you can imag- 
 ine the condition of the church on windy Sundays. The 
 stove was paid for by voluntary contributions. An inci- 
 dent connected with this fact has been happily preserved, 
 to illustrate the generous spirit of " those good old times," 
 3 
 
18 HISTORICAL DISCOURSE, 
 
 of which we delight to hear if it is not too frequently 
 thrust upon our notice, as in sharp contrast with the more 
 ])enurious spirit of the present age. One liberal-minded 
 young man, w^hen the contribution box was passed around, 
 dropped twenty-five cents into it, and a near neighbor, wit- 
 nessing his ruinous liberality, nudged him and inquired 
 reprovingly, "What did you give so much for?" 
 
 During the last year of Mr. Crane's ministry, the people 
 of the township met in this church to celebrate the fiftieth 
 anniversary of the nation's independence, and to listen to 
 an able and eloquent oration, delivered by Mr. Sylvester 
 Cooke, then a young man and a teacher in the public 
 school, now a venerable minister of the gospel retired from 
 active work. 
 
 Rev. John D. Paxton followed Mr. Crane, and was here 
 little less than a year. He was never installed. He was 
 Moderator of the Session from October 27th, 1826, to June 
 25th, 1827. 
 
 Rev. William Gray was settled February 6th, 1828, and 
 was here about a year. He left sometime in 1829. 
 
 In the Sessional records, as kept by these earlier pastors, 
 I liiid that whenever there was a meeting of tlie Session, if 
 one of the elders was al)sent he was called to an account at 
 the next meeting, or even if he was late he must give his 
 reasons. It was considered a matter of sacred duty in those 
 days that every elder should be present at every meeting of 
 the Session. It was a custom that might be practiced to 
 advantage in our own day. 
 
 Rev. Horace Doolittle was installed in May, 1830, and 
 dismissed in April, 1833. 
 
 The year he left, our Methodist brethren began the build- 
 ing of their house of worship. Up to this time our church 
 
SPRINGFIELD, N. J, 19 
 
 had been the only one anywhere in this vicinity. The 
 churches at Westfield, Connecticut Farms and South Orange 
 were our nearest neighbors. The Episcopal church at 
 Millburn was not built until 1853, and the Baptist church 
 at a still later period. 
 
 After Mr. Doolittle's time the church was without a pas- 
 tor, except as supplied by Rev. Mr. Woodbury, until 1835. 
 On April 28th of that year Rev. John C. Hart was in- 
 stalled, and remained eight years. He was dismissed Sept. 
 1st, 1843. Mr. Hart is remembered as an earnest preacher 
 and most excellent pastor. There were large accessions to 
 the church during the time • of his ministry here. He 
 preached a historical sermon July 1st, 1840, to which refer- 
 ence is made in the "Historical Collections of New Jersey." 
 From his manuscript we learn of a thrilling incident that 
 occurred during the battle of Springfield. 
 
 When the alarm was sounded upon the mountain a family 
 living where Mrs. Daniel Smith is now living, began to hide 
 away their more valuable household goods. While they 
 were all thus busily engaged, the two armies were posted 
 for the fight on either side of the Rah way river. They 
 themselves were directly between the contending forces. 
 They could not go down the road to cross at the brido-e 
 without exposing themselves to the fire of friend and foe. 
 So they sought the shelter of the woods in the rear of the 
 house, and becoming separated from each other one of the 
 family, a young girl fourteen years old, found herself alone 
 with a little sister in her care. Taking the baby in her 
 arms she bravely forded the river while the battle was 
 raging, and ran with it past the church on the road to Miil- 
 burn, until she sank down exhausted. There the father 
 
20 HISTORICAL DISCOURSE, 
 
 and mother soon found her. and thej all continued their 
 flight to a place of safety among the Short Hills. 
 
 Mr. Hart was succeeded b};^ Rev. Edward E. Rankin, who 
 was installed April 23d, 1844, and dismissed in 1850. He 
 is spoken of as a man of fine personal aj^pearance, having 
 a clear pleasant voice, which, while it was not loud, was 
 always easily heard His ministry here was largely blessed . 
 During his pastorate he took a trip to Europe, and Rev. Mr. 
 Starkweather supplied the pulpit i.n his absence. 
 
 Rev. "William E. Locke, formerly a preacher in the Bap- 
 tist denomination, succeeded him. He was installed May 
 28th, 1851, and dismissed in 1852. 
 
 Of his successor, the Rev. 0. L. Kirtland, who was in- 
 stalled May 3d, 1853, and dismissed at his own request, on 
 account of failing health, April 17th, 1872, it is not neces- 
 sary that I should speak, even to the children, of this con- 
 gregation. It is not to be expected that the words of one 
 who was a stranger to him, can make any more dear or fra- 
 grant that name of blessed memory to you all. How many 
 hallowed associations are clustered around it in your hearts 
 and homes. He is the man who, for twenty years, was your 
 sympathizing friend and spiritual adviser. In the very na- 
 ture of the case no other can ever take his place, to many of 
 you. He married you, he baptized your children, he stood 
 with you at the grave of your loved ones, he sought to soften 
 the sorrow by words of holy comfort ; he has been in your 
 homes a frequent and honored guest ; his memory is asso- 
 ciated with days that were bright and days that were cloudy ; 
 he has been to you father, and brother, and friend ; and 
 such friendships are formed but once in a life-time. There 
 were one hundred and fifty-eight added to the church during 
 Mr. Kirtland's pastorate here. In the early part of his 
 
SPRINGFIELD, N. J. 21 
 
 ministry the lecture room was built, and near the close of 
 it the church was remodeled to its present appearance and 
 the organ put in its place. Two years after his resignation 
 he fell asleep in Jesus. 
 
 On the 24th of October, 1872, Kev. Mr. Bowen was in- 
 stalled pastor of the church, and dismissed in April, 1874, 
 to enter upon the Turkish Mission, where he now is. 
 
 The present pastor was called and began the supply of 
 the pulpit in Ma}*, 1874, and was installed October 28th, of 
 the same year. 
 
 During the past year an infant class room has been built 
 upon the lecture room, and the lecture room repainted, at 
 an expense of about eight hundred dollars. The church 
 has had, since its beginning, fifteen pastors. Of the men 
 who have served you in the Gospel ministry, several took 
 this as their first charge and were ordained here. One was 
 married here; two died and were buried here. From the 
 membership of the church, three young men — -Alfred Briant, 
 William Townley and William D. Reeve — have entered the 
 ministry. One young lady has gone out as a foreign mis- 
 sionary — Miss Rebekah Smith, who went as the wife of Rev. 
 Mr. Forbes, to one of the Sandwich Islands. Thus have 
 we endeavored to give, as concisely as possible, but faith- 
 fully as to facts and dates, the history of this church. 
 
 And now we are near the end of the story. How swiftly 
 do we pass over in thought the uneven path that the gene- 
 rations have toiled along so wearily. How lightly do we 
 pass by and leave behind us the rough furlongs, where the 
 feet of the travelers have stumbled and fallen. And in 
 truth we should add, how superficially at the best, do we 
 write and read. 
 
 The undercurrent of thought and passion, that sends 
 
22 HISTORICAL DISCOURSE, 
 
 to the surface the occasional event from which our frag- 
 mentary and imperfect records are made up, is reserved for 
 the All-seeing Eye alone. Every being and organization 
 has a history that only the Judgment Day will disclose. We 
 may not know what that history of this church is, but we 
 believe that when it is completed and unfolded it will, with 
 all the attendant circumstances that have come under human 
 observation, bear unimpeachable testimony to the goodness 
 and mercy of our GrOD. He has been faithful to the father- 
 less and the widow. He has been careful of the interests of 
 his children, temporal and spiritual. He has answered the 
 penitent's prayer, and wiped away the mourner's tear. He 
 has given his angels charge concerning this little flock 
 through all their earthly pilgrimage. His messengers have 
 tented within these walls, and heads that were pillowed on 
 stone have found it the gate of heaven. 
 
 " The days of the years of my pilgrimage," says the old 
 church, "are an hundred and thirty years." I have seen 
 the forefathers laid in their graves ; I have seen the children 
 and the grandchildren grow up and pass away ; I have seen 
 this country when it was but thirteen small and dependent 
 colonies ; I have seen them develop into a united and pow- 
 erful nationality, I have seen this village enlarging its 
 boundaries and multiplying its industries. I have seen 
 churches of other denominations springing up around me ; 
 I have heard the individual, and church, and state, calling 
 upon the Universal Father and making known their neces- 
 sities, and never have I known the faintest cry to be disre- 
 garded. " Once I was young and now I am old, yet never 
 have I seen the righteous forsaken^ 
 
 And now, brethren, we must not forget at any time that 
 we hold a place in the long column of generations that keeps 
 
SPRINGFIELD, N. J. 23 
 
 Steadily on in the march of ages. We must not forget that 
 the fore ranks have fallen, and that we are the vanguard 
 to-day fronting the grave. The night is far spent, and the 
 dawn — whose radiant glory tinges at last the mountain peaks 
 of faith and hope — finds us in the place of honor on the field 
 of conflict. We have nothing to do with the past but to 
 gather from it the lessons of experience, to serve us in the 
 present. The ages gone belonged to the generations that 
 peopled them; the age in which we live belongs to us, 
 and all its duties and responsibilities are ours. And if 
 ever there was a time in the history of the world when 
 the call was urgent to the people of God to come uj? to the 
 help of the Lord, that time is the present. The forces of 
 evil are marshaling for the closing struggle. Modern scepti- 
 cism is loud mouthed and defiant. Roman Catholicism is des- 
 perate in its death throes. Anti-Christ is at flood-tide, and 
 all the springs of wordliness are swelling its current. Come 
 up, O men and women of faith and prayer ; come up with 
 willing hands and sympathetic hearts, to the help of the 
 Lord against the mighty. And you, slow of heart and 
 slower of hand, unwilling to do your part yet bearing the 
 name of Christ, if you hear not the trumpet call of the Spirit 
 that is sounding through the land to-day, I pray you for the 
 love of God separate yourselves from his people, and go to 
 your own place, that the world may know you for what you 
 are, and the Church of Christ may escape the reproach. 
 
 " Far down the ages now, 
 
 Much of her journey done ; 
 The pilgrim church pursues her way, 
 Until her crown be won. 
 
 No wider is the gate, 
 
 No broader is the way; 
 No smoother is the ancient path, 
 
 That leads to life and day. 
 
24 HISTORICAL DISCOURSE. 
 
 No slacker grows the flght. 
 ^ No feebler is the foe, 
 
 Nor less the need of armor tried, 
 Of shield, and spear, and bow. 
 
 Still faithful to our God, 
 
 And to our captain true; 
 We follow where He leads the way, 
 
 The kingdom in our view." 
 
 Let US be faithful, brethren, in our day, and our influence 
 will be felt, and our memory fragrant, in the years to come. 
 This church has a glorious record ; let us so live and labor 
 that its course shall still be from glory to glory. 
 
 God bless the old Church forevermore ! 
 
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