tihvary of trhe Cheolojical ^eminarjo 
 
 PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY 
 
 PURCHASED BY THE 
 
 MRS. ROBERT LENOX KENNEDY 
 
 CHURCH HISTORY FUND 
 
 V. ^0^31 
 
 BX 9211 .N70010 M306 1906 
 Parkhurst, Charles Henry, 
 
 1842-1933. 
 
 A brief history of the 
 
 Madison Square Presbyter ia: 
 
Madison Square Presbyterian Church 
 

 -^ Brief History of the 
 
 Madison Square Presbyterian 
 Church 
 
 and its Activities 
 by Rev. Charles H. Farkhurst, D.D. 
 
 New Tork 
 
 Printed by request 
 
 igo6 
 
IRVING PRESS 
 
 119-121 East Thirty-first Street 
 
 New York 
 
Contents 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Foreword 13 
 
 Historical Sketch of the Church on the Square 15 
 
 Memorial Chapel and Adams Memorial Church 37 
 
 Third Avenue Mission 47 
 
 Madison Square Church House 55 
 
 Erection of the New Church 61 
 
 Endowment of the Church 73 
 
 Ladies' Association 79 
 
 Employment Society 85 
 
 Loan Relief Society 89 
 
 Ladies' Visitation Society and Bureau of Information. ... 95 
 
 Fresh Air Work 97 
 
 Helping Hand 99 
 
 Kindergarten 103 
 
 Boys' Club 105 
 
 Girls' Clubs ... c 107 
 
 Church House Library 109 
 
List of Illustrations 
 
 FACING 
 PAGE 
 
 Broome Street Church 15 
 
 Rev. William Adams, D. D 25 
 
 Madison Square Church, the Old and the New 29 
 
 Rev. William J. Tucker, D.D 37 
 
 Adams Memorial Church 43 
 
 Rev. C. H. Parkhurst, D.D 47 
 
 Church House, corner of Thirtieth Street and Third 
 
 Avenue 55 
 
 The Present Church 61 
 
 Rev. Jesse F. Forbes, Ph. D 69 
 
 Interior of the Old Church 81 
 
 Interior of the Old Church 89 
 
 Lecture Room of the Old Church 97 
 
 Sunday-school Room of the Old Church 103 
 
Foreword 
 
 IT is due to ourselves as well as to those who have 
 gone before us that we should cherish the recollec- 
 tions of the past, that in the midst of all our for- 
 ward endeavors we should remember that the roots of 
 our presentlife are buried in the old years andthat what 
 we are now, and that what we can do now, is due not 
 only to the ministration of God's spirit of wisdom 
 and power, but due also to those who once stood 
 where we now stand and who, by their prayerful and 
 faithful service, have laid the foundations upon which 
 we, their loyal and dutiful children, are privileged to 
 build. 
 
 It is at the impulse of this motive that there has 
 been prepared the accompanying History of the Mad- 
 ison Square Presbyterian Church. That it is possible 
 to present so complete a record of the earlier part of 
 that history is due almost entirely to the painstaking 
 service of Mr. Joseph Hartley, recently deceased, who 
 has had at his command the faithfully kept and care- 
 fully preserved memoranda of his honored father, the 
 late Robert M. Hartley, a long-time member of our 
 Session and whose devoted life was closely knit into 
 the religious and humanitarian history of this city. 
 
 The completion of the first half-century of our his- 
 tory as a church, synchronizing as this epoch does 
 
 13 
 
with our transference to a new edifice, seems to render 
 the present an apt time for putting into permanent 
 form the story of our past, and that with the double 
 purpose of binding coming years more closely with 
 those that are gone, and of stimulating those of its 
 membership who still survive to conserve the legacy 
 with which we have been so richly endowed; and not 
 only to conserve it but in due time to bequeath it 
 aupfmented in wealth and volume to those who shall 
 be our successors. 
 
 C. H. Parkhurst 
 
 New York City, September 15, 1906. 
 
 14 
 

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 ii n i w ii i iii H «Wi«i m i»ii ni iiiiir>ii| i i n i Mm,i , L» , ij{r n ( i 
 iiii»'' «Mi iwti)i;i i in) ! i im t«4^m.i<JM w »>i i i>»»t«i4»i.' 
 
 Broome Street Church 
 
Historical Sketch 
 
 THE Madison Square Presbyterian Church is 
 an offshoot of the Central Presbyterian, 
 formerly worshipping at Broome Street, 
 a brief account of whose beginnings and early 
 struggles cannot but serve as a pertinent and inter- 
 esting prelude to our own history. 
 
 The Central Church was an outcome of the per- 
 severing labors of the Rev. William Patton, D.D., 
 who in March, 1820, commenced preaching to a mere 
 handful of people in a school room in Mulberry 
 Street, which he hired on his own responsibility. 
 This he continued for one year, receiving no pecuni- 
 ary compensation for his services. 
 
 His efforts were so blessed, that on January 8th, 
 1 82 1, he called a meeting at his residence in Elm 
 Street for the purpose of organizing a church. There 
 were present on that occasion the Rev. William 
 Patton, Rev. William Gray, Mr. John Proctor, Mr. 
 Thomas Donaldson and his wife, and Mary, wife of 
 the Rev. William Patton. 
 
 Having with appropriate solemnity implored the 
 Divine blessing, they resolved to associate themselves 
 into a visible church of Christ, whereupon Thomas 
 Donaldson and John Proctor were chosen Deacons. 
 
 15 
 
MADISON SQUARE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 
 
 On March 21st, 182 1, Samuel Hinman and John 
 Proctor were elected Ruling Elders, and on April 3d 
 of that year, at a meeting convened at the place of 
 worship, it was 
 
 Resolved: that the Rev. William Patton be called to 
 the pastorate of said church, at an annual salary of two 
 thousand dollars, and that Lewis St. John be chosen 
 chorister, at a salary of two hundred and fifty dollars. 
 
 The membership of the church increased rapidly, 
 and the congregation determined to erect a church 
 edifice. The site chosen was on the north side of 
 Broome Street, between Marion and Elm Streets, 
 seventy-five feet long and sixty feet wide. Sufficient 
 funds having been subscribed the work was com- 
 menced, the corner-stone laid, and on May 7th, 1822, 
 the church was opened for public worship. 
 
 On August 9th, 1854, the building was destroyed 
 by fire but immediately rebuilt and enlarged at a 
 cost of $40,000, and on the following year was again 
 open for service. This continued until the removal 
 of the church to Fifty-seventh Street in October, 
 1866, while under the charge of the Rev. James 
 Wilson, after which the building was sold and pulled 
 down to make room for a business structure. 
 
 The Rev. William Patton, pastor of the church, 
 having been appointed Corresponding and Pastoral 
 Secretary of the Presbyterian Education Society, 
 tendered his resignation, and, during the summer of 
 
 16 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 1834, was dismissed from his pastoral relations. His 
 connection with the Education Society was brief. 
 In 1835 ^^ accepted a call from the Spring Street 
 Presbyterian Church where he continued until 1846. 
 
 The ministry of Dr. Patton at Broome Street was 
 remarkably successful. He began with five persons, 
 but on leaving at the close of a pastorate of about 
 fourteen years, nearly a thousand members had been 
 enrolled on the church register, a majority of whom 
 had been received on confession of faith. 
 
 On August 1 8th, 1834, an evening meeting was 
 called to supply the vacancy occasioned by the retire- 
 ment of the Rev. William Patton, D.D., at which 
 Oliver Wilcox presided, and Robert M. Hartley was 
 chosen Secretary. The attendance was large and the 
 commissioners which had been previously appointed 
 to select a candidate for the existing vacancy reported 
 the name of the Rev.. William Adams, of Brighton, 
 Massachusetts, which nomination, after a careful 
 consideration of his testimonials, was approved by 
 the meeting, and the Rev. William Adams was 
 chosen pastor by a unanimous vote. 
 
 The proceedings of the meeting having been certi- 
 fied by the signature of the Chairman and Secretary, 
 they, conjointly with the Rev. William Adams, were 
 appointed commissioners to present the call to the 
 Presbytery, which was approved by that body Sep- 
 tember 15th, 1834. The communicants at this time 
 
 17 
 
MADISON SQUARE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 
 
 numbered 540. On June 24th, 1844, Dr. Adams, on 
 account of ill health, asked an intermission of his 
 ministerial labors for a season, which request was 
 granted and he left the country for Europe where he 
 remained about a year. 
 
 Under the pastorate of Dr. Adams the church re- 
 ceived a fresh impetus; no church in New York City 
 at that time exercised a wider or more commanding 
 influence, not only in the city but throughout the 
 country : the congregation was composed largely of 
 the cultivated people of the town, prominent in every 
 department of secular and religious activity. 
 
 These relations continued until the fall of 1853, 
 when, in consequence of the large exodus of the 
 people up-town, whereby the down-town churches 
 became greatly weakened, on January 17th of that 
 year Dr. Adams called a meeting of the male mem- 
 bers of his church to decide on the expediency of his 
 continuance as its pastor, inasmuch as an invitation 
 had been extended to him to unite with those who 
 were associated for the purpose of forming a new 
 church in the upper part of the city and to consider 
 the wisdom of consolidating the Central and Pearl 
 Street churches — a matter which had been for some 
 time under consideration. 
 
 Accordingly a committee was appointed to take 
 up the question and report at a subsequent meeting 
 of the congregation, such committee consisting of 
 
 18 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 Rev. William A. Hallock M. W. Williams 
 
 Robert M. Hartley J. W. Weed 
 
 James Morris John Ten Brook 
 
 E. Goodwin Nathan Brown 
 
 George Bacon Ritter Hadley 
 
 A. R. Wetmore Frederick Bull 
 
 The report of this committee, submitted to the 
 congregation January 21st, 1853, outlined a plan for 
 uniting the Pearl Street and Central Churches, for 
 continuing the ordinances of the gospel in the 
 Broome Street Church and of aiding in the establish- 
 ment of a new church in the upper part of the city. 
 
 On February 3d, 1853, a meeting of the Session of 
 the Central Church was called at which Dr. Adams 
 presided, the following named elders being present : 
 Messrs. Blatchford, Hartley, Weed, Chester and Bull. 
 
 A communication having been received from the 
 Pearl Street Church, in accordance with the fore- 
 going views, it was ordered to be engrossed on the 
 minutes of the Session, and the following action was 
 taken on the subject : 
 
 Resolved: that R. M. Hartley, J. W. Weed and 
 M. W. Williams be appointed commissioners to unite 
 with the pastor, the Rev. Dr. Adams, in an applica- 
 tion to the Fourth Presbytery, to dissolve his pas- 
 toral relations with this church. 
 
 The commissioners above named were moreover 
 authorized by the Session to act in the matter of 
 uniting the Pearl Street Church with the Broome 
 
 19 
 
MADISON SQUARE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 
 
 Street Church. This having been successfully 
 accomplished, the Rev. A. A. Wood assumed the 
 pastoral duties of the combined churches. 
 
 On the morning of the first Sabbath of February, 
 1853, the Rev. Dr. Adams delivered his last sermon 
 from the pulpit which he had occupied more than 
 eighteen years, taking his text from the Acts of the 
 Apostles, 2 1 St chapter, 17th to 21st verses. 
 
 In the afternoon the united churches assembled, 
 when the Rev, Joel Parker, D. D., Moderator of the 
 Fourth Presbytery, announced its action to be in 
 accord with the request of the respective pastors and 
 the commissioners associated with them, and the 
 officers and members ratified the Presbyterial Act by 
 a rising vote. 
 
 Note : The Pearl Street Church was originally a 
 colony from the First Associated Reformed Church 
 in Cedar Street, of which the Rev. John Mason was 
 pastor. A church edifice was erected on Magazine 
 Street, now Pearl, in 1797, and Dr. Mason for a 
 while officiated at both places. In 1804 the church 
 became independent, taking the title of the "Second 
 Associated Reformed Church," and the Rev. Robert 
 Forest was called as its first pastor, succeeded later 
 by Rev. A. A. Wood. 
 
 20 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 Officers of the Central Presbyterian Church 
 
 Pastors 
 Rev. William Patton, D.D. 
 " William Adams, D.D., LL.D. 
 " A. A. Wood 
 " James A. Dunn 
 " James D. Wilson 
 
 Elders 
 
 Samuel Hinman 
 John Proctor 
 J. Russell 
 Harlan Page 
 Oliver Wilcox 
 Henry Abell 
 Richard Evans 
 Alexis Baker 
 Samuel M. Blatchford 
 William J. Buck 
 Robert M. Hartley 
 
 (From 1822 to 1840) 
 
 Robert O. Dwight 
 John A. Morton 
 George L. Storer 
 RuFUS L. Nevins 
 George Mather 
 Charles Williams 
 John M. Weed, M.D. 
 Joseph Hyde 
 Stephen M. Chester 
 James Morris 
 Frederick Bull 
 
 John Proctor 
 Thomas Donaldson 
 George Mathew 
 Samuel Stiles 
 Alfred Edwards 
 Timothy Champerton 
 James Morris 
 Oliver Halstead 
 Oliver R. Kingsbury 
 John A. Dayton 
 
 Deacons 
 
 (From 1822 to 1840) 
 
 munson lockwood 
 James Miller 
 R. C. Andrews 
 John Ten Brook 
 Ritter Hadley 
 James B. Thompson 
 M. W. Williams, M.D. 
 Isaac Ford 
 Hezekiah D. Sharpe 
 
 21 
 
MADISON SQUARE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 
 
 In the winter of 1852-3, a number of persons, 
 principally members of the Central Presbyterian 
 Church in Broome Street, consulted together in 
 reference to the foundation of a new church to supply 
 more adequately the religious wants in what was then 
 the upper part of the city. 
 
 This was not done without due consideration for 
 the church with which they were at that time con- 
 nected, and the section of the city in which it was 
 then located. The result of their deliberation was 
 such as to indicate the guidance of Divine Providence. 
 
 The Pearl Street Church, at the corner of Elm and 
 Pearl Streets, on account of the great changes in that 
 part of the city, was under the necessity of changing 
 its location. This and the Central Church were not 
 only of the same denomination, but belonged to the 
 same Presbytery. After mature deliberation, it was 
 resolved, with entire unanimity, that the churches 
 should combine and form one new church to be 
 designated as the Central Presbyterian Church, with 
 Rev. A. A. Wood, then in charge of the Pearl Street 
 Church, as pastor, and that a new church be erected 
 in the vicinity of Madison Square, with the Rev. 
 William Adams, D.D., LL.D., pastor of the Central 
 Church, as its pastor. The former part of this ar- 
 rangement was carried into immediate effect. 
 
 Dr. Adams' relation with the Central Church hav- 
 ing been terminated February 4th, 1853, with a view 
 
 22 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 to his becoming pastor of the church to be newly 
 organized in the vicinity of Madison Square, active 
 measures were taken for the erection of the new 
 church edifice. Meetings were held by those desir- 
 ous of partaking in the new enterprise and subscrip- 
 tions for a considerable amount secured. 
 
 On the eighth of February, 1853, at a meeting of 
 the Session, an eligible site having been secured on 
 the corner of Madison Avenue and Twenty-fourth 
 Street, a building committee was appointed with 
 George W. Lane as Chairman. 
 
 Having matured its plans, the new congregation 
 commenced public worship in the chapel of the Union 
 Theological Seminary, University Place, February 
 13th, 1853. 
 
 On the third of March a meeting was convened of 
 those who purposed to identify themselves with the 
 church organization. After appropriate services con- 
 ducted by Dr. Adams, the meeting proceeded to the 
 special business of the occasion. Mr. Frederick Bull 
 was chosen scribe, and one hundred and thirty-one 
 members of the Central Church, and eleven others 
 belonging to seven different churches, unanimously 
 Resolved : 
 
 First, that we whose names have been announced, 
 associate ourselves as a visible Church of Christ. 
 
 Second, that we receive the system of Doctrine 
 contained in the Confession of Faith of the Presby- 
 
 23 
 
MADISON SQUARE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 
 
 terian Church in the United States of America as 
 our standard. 
 
 Thirds that we cordially approve of the system of 
 Government and Discipline of the Presbyterian 
 Church, and adopt the same as ours. 
 
 Fourth, that the said church be designated as the 
 Madison Square Presbyterian Church of the City of 
 New York. 
 
 Fifth, that we now proceed to the election of 
 officers, whereupon the following individuals were 
 duly elected Ruling Elders : 
 
 James Morris Samuel M. Blatchford 
 
 Robert M. Hartley Frederick Bull 
 
 Sixth, that application be made to the Fourth 
 Presbytery of New York to receive this church under 
 its care, and that Robert M, Hartley and Charles A. 
 Bulkley be commissioners for that purpose. 
 
 Seventh, that we now proceed to the election of a 
 pastor. 
 
 The Rev. A. A. Wood of the Fourth Presbytery, 
 being present by invitation, moderated the call of a 
 pastor, which resulted in the unanimous election of 
 Rev. William Adams, D.D., at a salary of three 
 thousand dollars per annum, payable quarterly, the 
 call to be signed by the Elders and presented before 
 the Presbytery by Messrs. R. M. Hartley and Charles 
 A. Bulkley as commissioners. 
 
 24 
 
Rk\-. William Auams, D.D. 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 The call having been made out in the usual form 
 was signed by 
 
 T. M. Blatchford S. M. Chester 
 
 R. M. Hartley James Morris 
 
 Frederick Bull 
 
 The Moderator endorsed the call as follows : 
 
 "This is to certify that the within call to the Rev. 
 Dr. Adams, D.D., LL.D., is in accordance with the 
 form of Government of the Presbyterian Church, and 
 that it was entirely unanimous, and that Robert M. 
 Hartley and Charles A. Bulkley were chosen com- 
 missioners to present the same before the Fourth 
 Presbytery of New York. 
 
 (Signed) A. A. Wood, Moderator.'' 
 New York, March 3d, 1853. 
 
 The interesting solemnities and transactions of the 
 evening were closed with prayer and the benediction 
 by the Moderator, Rev. A. A. Wood. 
 
 The corner-stone of the new edifice was laid with 
 religious exercises on the twelfth day of July, 1853. 
 Underneath it was deposited a box containing a copy 
 of the Holy Bible, printed the same year, together 
 with a list of the names of the Pastor, the Elders, the 
 Deacons and the building committee of the church. 
 
 On March 30th, 1853, the Session of the Madison 
 Square Presbyterian Church held its first meeting at 
 the house of the pastor, No. 601 Houston Street. 
 
 25 
 
MADISON SQUA.RE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 
 
 All the members were present, viz.: Rev. William 
 Adams, D.D., Moderator; Elders Blatchford, Morris, 
 Hartley, Chester and Bull. 
 
 The meeting was opened with prayer, and there 
 were numerous applications for admission to mem- 
 bership, both by certificate and confession of faith. 
 
 The Session agreed to adopt the form of admission 
 to membership that was used by the Central Presby- 
 terian Church, and on motion it was 
 
 Resolved, That Frederick Bull be appointed Clerk 
 of the Session, and as such be authorized to give 
 letters of dismission, and furthermore that he be ap- 
 pointed Treasurer of the Session. 
 
 The following minutes were ordered to be entered 
 upon the records, viz.: 
 
 That the Rev. William Adams, D.D., LL.D., was 
 installed as pastor of this church, on Saturday even- 
 ing, March 6th, 1853, on which occasion a sermon 
 was preached by the Rev. James P. Wilson, D.D., 
 Professor in the Union Theological Seminary, from 
 the text in the Acts of the Apostles, 20th chapter, 
 27th verse : " For I have not shunned to declare 
 unto you the whole council of God." The charge 
 to the pastor was given by the Rev. A. A. Wood, 
 and to the people by the Rev. T. H. Skinner, Jr. 
 At the same time the Elders Elect, viz.: T. M. 
 Blatchford, R. M. Hartley, S. M. Chester, James 
 Morris and Frederick Bull were installed officers of 
 
 26 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 this church by the Rev, Dr. Wilson, all by appoint- 
 ment of the Fourth Presbytery of New York. The 
 services were held in the Central Presbyterian 
 Church, Broome Street. 
 
 The Session met at No. 601 Houston Street, June 
 9th, 1853, the moderator and all the members of the 
 Session present. Many persons applied for member- 
 ship by certificate, and on examination were received. 
 
 On June 14th, 1853, ^^^ Board of Elders was en- 
 larged by the addition of Messrs. Treadwell Ketcham 
 and Jesse W. Benedict ; and the Board of Deacons 
 by the addition of Messrs. John Ten Brook, George 
 W. Lane and Charles H. Trask. 
 
 The congregation attending the ministration of 
 the Rev. Dr. Adams having so increased in numbers 
 as to render the chapel of the Union Theological 
 Seminary inadequate to their accommodation, Hope 
 Chapel, on Broadway, was placed at their disposal. 
 The opportunity was promptly approved and the 
 chapel engaged as a place of public worship for the 
 term of one year from May ist, 1853, or until the 
 completion of the church edifice in course of erection 
 on Madison Avenue and 24th Street. 
 
 Officers 
 
 The Elders at this period (1853) were : 
 
 Samuel M. Blatchford Frederick Bull 
 
 Stephen M. Chester Robert M. Hartley 
 
 James Morris Treadwell Ketcham 
 
 Jesse W. Benedict 
 
 27 
 
MADISON SQUARE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 
 
 Deacons : 
 
 John Ten Brook George W. Lane \ Subsequently 
 
 TT m f elected 
 
 Charles H. TrASK ) Ruling EWers 
 
 Trustees : 
 
 LuciEN D. Coman Edmund Dwight 
 
 George W. Lane Henry Dwight, Jr. 
 
 Jesse W. Benedict John Ten Brook 
 
 Charles Gould Apollos R. Wetmore 
 
 Charles A. Bulkley 
 
 Henry Dwight, Jr., Chairman 
 
 George W. Lane, Treasurer 
 
 Jesse W. Benedict, Clerk 
 
 On December 24th, 1854, the new edifice being 
 practically completed, (at a cost of about $175,000), 
 it was decided to take possession and to dedicate it 
 to the worship of Almighty God. 
 
 Note : It may be proper to mention here, that the 
 success of this new church enterprise so far as 
 material results were concerned, was largely due to 
 the chairman of the building committee, Mr. George 
 W. Lane, and to Mr. Henry Dwight, Jr. 
 
 Notice of the completion of the church was given 
 by the Rev. William Adams the preceding Sabbath 
 in Hope Chapel. Special preparatory services were 
 held on Friday, December 2 2d, in the morning for 
 prayer by the Session and Deacons, in the afternoon 
 by church and congregation, and in the evening the 
 
 28 
 
Madison Square Church 
 
 The Old and the New 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 Central Church and congregation, by invitation, 
 united with their pastor, Rev. A. A. Wood, who 
 deHvered a discourse appropriate to the occasion 
 from the Book of Exodus, 33d chapter and 14th 
 verse : " My presence shall go with you and I will 
 give you rest." 
 
 The ensuing Sabbath a large congregation as- 
 sembled in the morning to hear the Dedicatory Dis- 
 course by the Rev. William Adams, who took for his 
 text the 14th verse of the 26th Psalm : " Lord, I have 
 loved the habitation of thy house and the place 
 where thine honor dwelleth." In the afternoon the 
 Rev. George L. Prentice officiated, and in the evening 
 the Rev. George W. Bethune, D.D. 
 
 After a pastorate of more than twenty years, 
 Dr. Adams on November 19th, 1873, tendered his 
 resignation in order to assume the duties of Presi- 
 dent of Union Theological Seminary and occupy the 
 chair of Sacred Rhetoric. At the urgent request of 
 the church, the pastoral relation was continued until 
 April 3d, 1874, when it was dissolved by act of 
 Presbytery. 
 
 On Sunday, April 19th, 1874, he preached his fare- 
 well sermon to the Madison Square Church congre- 
 gation. He had presided over the Broome Street 
 and Madison Square churches for somewhat over 
 forty years and his sermon was devoted in the main 
 to a retrospect of those years. It was based on the 
 
 29 
 
MADISON SQUARE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 
 
 8th Chapter of Deuteronomy, 2d verse ; — " And thou 
 shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God 
 led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble 
 thee and to know thee, to know what was in thine 
 heart whether thou wouldst keep His commandments 
 or no." He was installed as President of Union 
 Theological Seminary on the nth of May, which 
 position he held until his death. He, however, con- 
 tinued his attendance upon the ministrations of his 
 church until his removal to Orange Mountain, N. J., 
 where he initiated church services and where eventu- 
 ally the residents erected a pretty stone chapel at 
 St. Cloud, at which he occasionally officiated and 
 which became his church home until his death on the 
 30th of August, 1880. 
 
 Although twenty-six years have elapsed since the 
 death of Dr. Adams there are still some in the church 
 and congregation who remember this beloved pastor. 
 His public utterances were grand in thought and 
 magnetic in effect and his social life always genial 
 and companionable. The pulpit remained vacant 
 until May 12th, 1875, when Rev. William J. Tucker, 
 D.D., was installed as pastor. Dr. Tucker's pastorate 
 was comparatively brief. On the 8th of October, 
 1879, he resigned in obedience to a call to the pro- 
 fessorship of Sacred Rhetoric in Andover Theologi- 
 cal Seminary, which position he subsequently left in 
 order to become President of Dartmouth College. 
 
H ISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 He was succeeded by the Rev. Charles H. Parkhurst, 
 D.D., who was installed March 9th, 1880. The 
 sermon on that occasion was preached by Rev. Ros- 
 well D. Hitchcock, D.D., the charge to the pastor 
 was given by Rev. Howard Crosby, D.D., the charge 
 to the people by Rev. William J. Tucker, D.D. 
 
 Among those who have served the church as 
 assistant ministers during Dr. Parkhurst's pastorate 
 are the following : Rev. Sherrod Soule, now pastor 
 of the Congregational Church of Naugatuck, Conn,; 
 Rev. William R. Bennett, pastor of the Morristown 
 First Presbyterian Church, Morristown, N. J.; Rev. 
 Henry H. Tweedy, at present pastor of the South 
 Congregational Church of Bridgeport, Conn.; Rev. 
 Howard S. Bliss, president of the Syrian Protestant 
 College, Beirut, Syria ; Rev. J. H. Denison, pastor 
 of the Central Congregational Church, Boston ; Rev. 
 DuBois S. Morris, working under the auspices of the 
 Foreign Board of the Presbyterian Church and at 
 present located at Hwai Yuen, China ; Rev. George 
 B. Spalding, recently called to the New England 
 Congregational Church of Saratoga Springs, N. Y.; 
 Rev. Edward H. Rudd, now pastor of the Congrega- 
 tional Church of Dedham, Mass.; Rev. William W. 
 Coe, Managing Editor of the " Bible Record," and 
 Rev. George R. Montgomery, the present incumbent, 
 recently pastor of the Olivet Congregational Church 
 of Bridgeport, Conn. 
 
 31 
 
MADISON SQUARE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 
 
 The following-named persons have held the posi- 
 tion of Superintendent of the home Sunday School : 
 
 Mr. William E. Dodge, prior to 1872 
 
 Mr. James A. Parsons . 1872-1875 
 
 Mr. Charles S. Hurd . 1875-1877 
 
 Mr. William N. Crane . 1877-1881 
 
 Mr. William P. St. John . 1881-1886 
 
 Mr. John C. Coleman . 1886-1896 
 
 Rev. Edward H. Rudd . 1896-1901 
 
 Rev. W. W. Coe . . 1901-1905 
 
 Rev. Geo. R. Montgomery is the present Superintendent. 
 
 There follow herewith lists respectively of the 
 members of the three Boards of the Church cover- 
 ing our entire history to the present time. 
 
 Trustees 
 
 Henry Dwight, Jr 1853-1857 
 
 Lucian D. Coman 1853-1864 
 
 Edmund Dwight 1853-1861 
 
 George W. Lane 1853-1885 
 
 Apollos R. Wetmore 1853-1881 
 
 John Ten Brook 1853-1891 
 
 Jesse W. Benedict 1853-1865 
 
 Charles A. Bulkley 1853-1886 
 
 Charles Gould 1853-1863 
 
 Francis F. Marbury 1857-1890 
 
 John Van Arsdale 1861-1879 
 
 William C. Martin 1862-1872 
 
 Amos T. Dwight 1863-1881 
 
 32 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 Edmund D. Stanton 1865-1873 
 
 Morris Woodruff 1873-1886 
 
 David S. Egleson 1873-1897 
 
 Arthur B. Graves 1879-1897 
 
 William H. Ross 1881-1902 
 
 Charles W. Isham 1881-1885 
 
 D. Willis James 1885-1897 
 
 Ezra M. Kingsley 1885-1897 
 
 Frederick H. Cossitt 1886-1887 
 
 William C. Sturges 1886- 
 
 Benjamin G. Clarke 1887-1892 
 
 Charles H. Woodbury 1890-1893 
 
 Augustus D. Juilliard 1892- 
 
 Louis Lee Stanton 1892- 
 
 William E. Stiger 1893- 
 
 William N. Crane 1897- 
 
 Edward C. Bodman 1897- 
 
 Charles H. Ludington 1897- 
 
 Frederick Baker 1897-1903 
 
 Francis Louis Slade 1902- 
 
 Marcellus Hartley Dodge 1903- 
 
 Elders 
 
 March 3d, 1853 December 7th, 1866 
 Samuel L. Blatchford ^ 
 
 Frederic K. Bull ^^^1° Wetmore 
 
 Stephen M. Chester Charles Collins 
 
 Robert M. Hartley William E. Dodge, Jr. 
 
 James Morris J^^n F. Trow 
 
 June 14th, 1853 
 
 Tredwell Ketcham December, 1872 
 
 Jesse W. Benedict ^enry Ivison 
 
 March 22d, 186 1 Theodore W.Dwight,LL.D. 
 
 Oliver E. Wood Charles H.Tr ask (Re-elected) 
 
 Ezra M. Kingsley W. C. Martin 
 
 Aaron Carter, Jr. William N. Crane 
 
 George W. Lane John Crosby Brown 
 
 Charles H. Trask Francis H. Slade 
 
 33 
 
MADISON SQUARE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 
 
 January 8th, 1879 
 
 Albon p. Man 
 Francis P. Freeman 
 Joseph Gillet 
 Charles H. Woodbury 
 
 November 29th, 1882 
 
 Ezra M. Kingsley 
 
 (Re-elected) 
 January 7th, 1885 
 
 D. Willis James 
 S. Hastings Grant 
 
 December 8th, 1886 
 John Ten Brook 
 
 December 12th, 1888 
 Clarence E. Beebe 
 
 December loth, 1890 
 Horace J. Fairchild 
 Henry M. Humphrey 
 
 February 5th, 1893 
 Frederick C. Colton 
 
 February 4th, 1894 
 William E. Stiger 
 
 February 6th, 1898 
 Charles T. Kissam 
 J. H. C. Nevius 
 
 April loth, 1901 
 
 Edward C. Bodman 
 Robert W. deForest 
 
 April 5th, 1903 
 
 William M. Kingsley 
 
 Deacons 
 
 February, 1854 
 
 John Ten Brook 
 George W. Lane 
 Charles H. Trask 
 
 April, 1861 
 
 W. E. Dodge, Jr. 
 A. O. Van Lennep 
 D. Willis James 
 David Wetmore 
 Joseph Gillet 
 S. Hastings Grant 
 S. Tyler Williams 
 
 December, 1866 
 
 Benjamin S. Walcott 
 Francis H. Slade 
 W. C. Martin 
 
 January, 1873 
 
 Francis P. Freeman 
 Anson Phelps Stokes 
 Francis Leathe 
 Theodore W. Morris 
 Eugene Delano 
 
 January, 1877 
 
 Charles H. Woodbury 
 J. Edwards Read 
 Frederick C. Colton 
 
 January, 1878 
 
 Daniel H. Hastings 
 George H. Sipp 
 
 April, 1879 
 
 Clarence E. Beebe 
 Henry Dale 
 
 34 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 November, 1879 
 
 J. Adams Bishop 
 Charles H. Patterson 
 
 March, 1883 
 
 Cleveland H. Dodge 
 John F. Harmon 
 
 January, 1885 
 
 William P. St. John 
 
 December, 1886 
 
 Charles A. Munger 
 Henry M. Humphrey 
 William C. Stuart 
 
 December, 1888 
 
 J. H. C. Nevius 
 Talbot Olyphant 
 
 December, 1890 
 
 William M. Kingsley 
 
 February, 1893 
 
 Henry N. Tifft 
 
 April, 1893 
 
 Arthur C. James 
 
 April, 1895 
 
 Chas. a. B. Pratt 
 Francis L. Slade 
 
 January, 1898 
 
 James Slater 
 Charles E. Lawton 
 
 April, 1904 
 
 Seth Sprague Terry 
 Ernest T. Carter 
 Arthur C. Ludington 
 
 35 
 
Kk\ . William |. Tl^ckeu, D.l). 
 
Memorial Chapel and Adams Memorial 
 Church 
 
 HAVING greatly prospered in its own brief 
 history, the church was early moved to make 
 some expression of gratitude for the Divine 
 favor which it had enjoyed, by special endeavors to 
 benefit others who were without adequate religious 
 instruction. Accordingly in the early months of 
 1855-6, systematic measures were inaugurated for the 
 establishing of a mission chapel and Sabbath School 
 commensurate with the wants of a large section on 
 the eastern side of the city, lying along the East 
 River between Twenty-third Street and Forty-second 
 Street, and for that purpose the following committee 
 was appointed : 
 
 Robert M. Hartley Charles Gould 
 
 J. LowERY George W. Lane 
 
 On entering upon their labors the committee soon 
 found that the mission field had been wisely chosen, 
 inasmuch as any manageable number of neglected 
 children and adults who were unreached by any other 
 Christian agencies, might there be gathered for re- 
 ligious instruction. The apartment first occupied for 
 the purpose was a rough, uncomfortable room, which 
 during week days was used as a carpenter shop, situ- 
 ated on the north side of Twenty-ninth Street, near 
 Third Avenue. 
 
 37 
 
ADAMS MEMORIAL CHURCH 
 
 The first scholars were mostly wild, uncontrollable 
 children, who upon the first and second Sabbaths tore 
 up and destroyed many of the Bibles and singing- 
 books, rendering the presence of a policeman neces- 
 sary to the maintenance of even tolerable order. 
 Eventually, however, by special favor, the children 
 were permitted temporarily to assemble in the public 
 school building on Twenty-seventh Street, between 
 Second and Third Avenues. Elder James Morris, 
 whose long experience in Sunday School work, and 
 whose Christian character eminently qualified him for 
 the responsible position, was the first appointed super- 
 intendent, with his son, Theodore Morris, as assistant. 
 In April, Mr. Morris died, and in May, Mr. William E. 
 Dodge, jr., was selected to succeed him. 
 
 But it eventually became evident to the committee 
 having the matter in charge that it would be imprac- 
 ticable to continue the work so auspiciously begun 
 and so full of promise for the future, unless the 
 church, as such, became the owner of a building 
 suitable for the purpose. 
 
 After mature deliberation, the Committee decided 
 to recommend the purchase of a lot, forty by one 
 hundred feet, situated on Third Avenue, between 
 Thirtieth and Thirty-first Streets, and to erect thereon 
 a suitable building ; the lower floor to be rented for 
 business purposes, and the upper stories to be appro- 
 priated to the object of the mission. 
 
 38 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 At a special meeting of the membership of the 
 Madison Square Church, March 20th, 1857, this 
 committee submitted its report which was accepted, 
 and its recommendations adopted. 
 
 Funds being necessary for the purchase of the 
 aforesaid lots, Elder J. W. Benedict and the Chair- 
 man of the Church Committee volunteered to solicit 
 subscriptions for that purpose. The requested money 
 was raised, the lots were purchased, and a building 
 erected there at a cost of $5,000. 
 
 The building was completed in January, 1858, and 
 on Sabbath morning, January loth, the commodious 
 chapel was occupied by the Sunday School for the 
 first time. On the following Sabbath morning, was 
 held the first church service for adults, when a ser- 
 mon was preached by Dr. Adams of the parent 
 church. Similar services were held on succeeding 
 Sabbath evenings, various ministers officiating. 
 
 In addition to the volunteer teachers and visitors 
 employed in many offices of Christian kindness, in 
 September, 1858, the Rev. William Hough was en- 
 gaged as a supply to conduct regular public services 
 and administer Sacraments at the usual services of 
 public worship, and, on the evening of March 13th, 
 1859, was ordained as an Evangelist at the Madison 
 Square Church by the Fourth Presbytery. Mr. 
 Hough supplied the pulpit from March, 1858, to May 
 I St, 1859. May 17th, i860, Mr. Hough left for a 
 
 39 
 
ADAMS MEMORIAL CHURCH 
 
 vacation of six weeks, hoping thus to recruit his ex- 
 hausted strength. But finding still further rest 
 necessary, he tendered his resignation, which was 
 accepted. 
 
 It was at this time that the Rev. Charles H. Pay- 
 son, who had supplied the pulpit during the tempo- 
 rary absence of Mr. Hough, was invited to take his 
 place, and accepted the call. He was ordained as an 
 Evangelist at the Chapel, Sabbath evening, Novem- 
 ber 25th, i860. 
 
 The opening exercises were conducted by the 
 Moderator of the Presbytery, Rev. James H. Dwight, 
 and the sermon preached by Rev. George L. Pren- 
 tiss, D.D., Professor in the Union Theological Sem- 
 inary, and formerly pastor of the Church of the 
 Covenant of this city. The consecrating prayer was 
 offered by the Rev. Henry B. Smith, Professor of 
 Theology in Union Theological Seminary, accom- 
 panied by the laying on of hands by the Presbytery, 
 after which a touching charge to the pastor was 
 made by the Rev. William Adams, D.D., his peculiar 
 relations as the head of the parent church giving to 
 it very special interest. 
 
 During the summer of i860, the same year in 
 which Mr. Payson assumed the care of the mission, it 
 became evident that the accommodations afforded by 
 the chapel were insufficient for the growing demands 
 of the work ; additions were accordingly made to the 
 
 40 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 chapel building, consisting of an extension of the 
 main edifice some twenty-five feet in the rear, to- 
 gether with two wings, the one fronting on Thirty-first 
 Street, the other on the opposite side of the chapel, 
 each two stories high. These furnished rooms for 
 the infant class on Sunday, and for social gatherings 
 and prayer meetings during the week, as well as for 
 a large and well-arranged Sunday School Library, 
 
 Once more the increased work of the mission 
 called for enlarged accommodations. It was accord- 
 ingly determined to dispose of the property on Third 
 Avenue, and erect a new chapel on a site secured for 
 that purpose on Thirtieth Street between Second and 
 Third Avenues. 
 
 The cornerstone of the new chapel was laid by 
 Rev. William Adams, D.D., with appropriate serv- 
 ices, September 14th, 1874, and dedicated to the 
 service of the Master, Easter Sunday, March 28th, 
 1875, o^ which occasion, Rev, Mr. Payson delivered 
 a discourse, taking his text from Joshua iv. 7 : — 
 "These stones be for a memorial." It received the 
 name of the Memorial Chapel. The building and 
 foundation of the new chapel cost about $60,000, and 
 the land $15,000, of which about $12,000 'was raised 
 by the people at the mission, the remainder contrib- 
 uted by the Madison Square Church. 
 
 Another progressive step in the usefulness of this 
 mission work on the East Side was the establishment 
 
 41 
 
ADAMS MEMORIAL CHURCH 
 
 of a German congregation in 1869 to meet the wants 
 of a large number of that nationaHty who were with- 
 out church privileges. Mr. Payson's visit to Ger- 
 many immediately after his graduation from the 
 Theological Seminary enabled him to acquire a 
 thorough knowledge of the German language and 
 was of great service to him in winning the confidence 
 of a large number of Germans resident in the imme- 
 diate vicinity of the mission. For the sake of retain- 
 inor them and their children, it was found desirable 
 to organize a separate service and for this purpose to 
 secure the assistance of a German pastor. This 
 arrangement was consummated and in 1869 the 
 Rev. Martin A. Erdmann was invited to that posi- 
 tion. Nine years later, Mr. Erdmann was compelled 
 by impaired health to relinquish his labors and died 
 on the ist of July, 1878. He was succeeded in the 
 German work on the 27th of January, 1878, by the 
 Rev. Louis Wolferz. The Rev. Mr. Payson for 
 more than seventeen years presided over the Third 
 Avenue Mission, receiving the hearty and liberal aid 
 of the parent church. Under his ministry the mission 
 became a strong institution and raised for its support, 
 from its own members, between four and five thou- 
 sand dollars annually, — what was still lacking being 
 supplied by the Madison Square Church. 
 
 In the providence of God which proved that Mr. 
 Payson's work w^as nearly done when he entered 
 
 42 
 
!ifg«|!lifi; 
 
 i.«««Si,SEf54T;^?@^^ ^ra%?^'-'«i.^^NS'**Si^^^fe^'?8ir"- 
 
 AD'MMS ]MeMORI4I Chukch 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 with his flock into the new building, he was privileged 
 to continue his services there scarcely two years and 
 was then taken from the midst of abundant useful- 
 ness and widely extending labors while still in the 
 fulness of life and with the best of his ministry yet 
 in prospect. He died on January 24th, 1877. 
 
 Mr. Payson was succeeded by the Rev. Edgar A. 
 Elmore, who, to this end, was ordained an evangelist 
 May 15th, 1877. Mr. Elmore labored faithfully and 
 successfully for nearly eight years, when failing 
 health necessitated a change and he resigned. Since 
 his resignation he has been, from 1885-8, pastor of 
 the Third Presbyterian Church of Knoxville, Tenn., 
 and is now pastor of the First Presbyterian Church 
 of Chattanooga, Tenn. 
 
 The vacancy created by the resignation of Mr. 
 Elmore was filled by the appointment of the Rev. 
 Jesse F. Forbes, a graduate of Amherst College 
 and, when called to New York, pastor of the First 
 Congregational Church of Warren, Mass. 
 
 Previous to the coming of Dr. Forbes, the ques- 
 tion had been raised and somewhat animatedly dis- 
 cussed whether the work of Memorial Chapel should 
 be continued as a part of the Madison Square Church 
 or whether the time had not come when worshippers 
 at the Chapel should be organized and recognized as 
 an individual church. Sentiment both at the Chapel 
 and at the Madison Square Church inclined toward 
 
 43 
 
AEIAMS MEMORIAL CHURCH 
 
 the latter policy, and on the nth of January, 1886, 
 the following petition was presented to Dr. Parkhurst 
 and by him laid before the Presbytery of New York 
 City: — "We the undersigned members of Madison 
 Square Church worshipping at the Chapel, respect- 
 fully request the Presbytery of New York to organize 
 us into an independent Presbyterian church." 
 
 This petition was signed by more than one hun- 
 dred members. Presbytery granted the request and 
 appointed the following committee : Rev. C. H. 
 Parkhurst, Rev. Jesse F. Forbes, Rev. J. R. Kerr, 
 Rev. J. M. Worrall, with Elders W. C. Martin and 
 W. F. Lee. This committee met at Memorial 
 Chapel on January 21, 1886, and organized an inde- 
 pendent church consisting of 276 persons dismissed 
 from the Madison Square Church. The new church 
 thus constituted selected for its name " Adams 
 Memorial Presbyterian Church," in honor of Rev. 
 Dr. William Adams, who for so many years had 
 been pastor of the parent church. 
 
 On February 2d, 1886, pursuant to the call of Ses- 
 sion, the congregation of Adams Memorial Church 
 was convened for the purpose of electing a pastor. 
 Dr. Parkhurst presided and the congregation made 
 unanimous choice of the Rev. Jesse F. Forbes. This 
 call was presented to Presbytery February 8th, 1886, 
 and was placed in the hands of the pastor-elect, 
 whose acceptance of the call having been signified by 
 
 44 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 him, Reverends Dr. Parkhurst, Francis Brown, 
 Samuel D. Burchard and C. A. Stoddard were ap- 
 pointed a committee to install the pastor. The 
 installation occurred on the 7th of March, 1886, 
 when Dr. Parkhurst presided, preaching the sermon ; 
 Professor Brown offered the installing prayer. Dr. 
 Burchard charged the pastor and Dr. Stoddard 
 charged the people. 
 
 At this time also the German branch was organ- 
 ized as an independent church, under the pastorate 
 of Rev. Mr. Wolferz, but from that time on ceased 
 all connection with the Adams Memorial Church. 
 
 45 
 
Rl'.V. C. H. rARKHlKST, D.D. 
 
The Third Avenue Mission 
 
 THE success attained by the Memorial Mis- 
 sion on Thirtieth Street, and its consequent 
 diminished need of the personal services of 
 members of the parent church induced the enquiry 
 whether some new enterprise might not be under- 
 taken by us which should serve as an outlet to our 
 unexpended Christian interest and energy. In the 
 years '84 and '85 some experiments were tried along 
 this line in the shape of boys' club work. A good 
 many of the young men and women of our Church 
 threw themselves devotedly and enthusiastically into 
 the undertaking, but the feeling gradually took pos- 
 session of all the participants that while the services 
 rendered were profitable to those who rendered them 
 and resulted in entertaining the recipients of our atten- 
 tions, no permanent results were wrought in the 
 characters of the boys gathered into the club and 
 that there was little, if anything, to show for our out- 
 lay in time and money. 
 
 These experiments, however, had this much value, 
 that they successfully demonstrated their fruitlessness 
 and led to the conviction that if we were going to 
 secure, among either young or old, effects that should 
 have the quality of permanence, we must do work 
 
 47 
 
THE THIRD AVENUE MISSION 
 
 that was more fundamental and think less about 
 amusing people and more about gospelizing them. 
 
 With this object in view, a conference was held at 
 the house of Dr. Parkhurst on the eveninor of Novem- 
 ber 15th, 1886. At this conference there were pres- 
 ent beside Dr. Parkhurst, Messrs. J. Adams Bishop, 
 E. W. Frost, William C. Stewart, A. T. Enos, Wil- 
 liam M. Kingsley, J. E. Reed, Howard S. Bliss, 
 Henry M, Humphrey and W. H. Kingsley. Those 
 present resolved themselves into a committee for the 
 inauguration and maintenance of mission work on the 
 east side of the town, and organized in the election 
 of the following officers : Chairman, E. W. Frost; 
 Treasurer, J. Adams Bishop; Secretary, H. M. Hum- 
 phrey. Dr. Parkhurst and Dr. Bishop were made a 
 committee on finance. 
 
 After careful inquiry, the building No. 386 Third 
 Avenue was rented for six months from November 
 ist, 1886. The joint services of Mr. and Mrs. Charles 
 E. Ballou as missionaries were secured at the rate of 
 $1,500 per annum, their year to commence December 
 ist, 1886. The several members of the committee 
 pledged themselves to active cooperation with Mr. 
 and Mrs. Ballou and made themselves responsible for 
 the music, the ushering, etc., etc., one or more even- 
 ings being assigned to each: viz., to Dr. Parkhurst, 
 Thursday and Saturday ; to Mr. Frost, Sunday and 
 Tuesday; to Mr. Stewart, Wednesday; to Messrs. 
 
 48 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 Kingsley and Humphrey, Monday; to Mr. Reed and 
 Dr. Bishop, Friday. 
 
 The success of the work having been demonstrated, 
 it was voted in January, 1887, to arrange if possible 
 for a two years' extension of the lease of 386 Third 
 Avenue. Negotiations proving unsuccessful, it was 
 voted on the 19th of April of that year to lease for 
 two years, 480 Third Avenue, which was effected. 
 
 At the meeting of the committee held May 2d, 
 1887, Mr. E. W. Frost resigned the chairmanship on 
 account of his intended removal from the city. It 
 was at that meeting that it was unanimously voted 
 that the Mission be called the "Madison Square 
 Church Mission." October loth, 1887, Messrs. H. 
 B. Twombly and William C. Hill were elected to 
 membership on the committee. The annual budget 
 at this time amounted to about $6,000. For the pur- 
 pose of soliciting subscriptions, the names of the 
 congregation were divided among the different mem- 
 bers of the committee. 
 
 May I St, 1 889, it was resolved to appropriate $800 to 
 the support of George Graff with the understanding 
 that he should give half of his time to our mission 
 work in aid of Mr. Ballou, and half of his time to study 
 with a view to greater efficiency in evangelical work. 
 
 The name of Henry N. Tifft as member of the 
 committee first appears on the minutes of the meet- 
 ing held December i6th, 1889. 
 
 49 
 
THE THIRD AVENUE MISSION 
 
 In view of the continued illness of our Chairman, 
 Mr. Read, it was voted January 12th, 1891, to create 
 the office of vice-chairman and Mr. Henry N. Tifft 
 was elected to that office. 
 
 At the meeting of the committee held April 3d, 
 1891, it was voted to transfer our work to 430 Third 
 Avenue and that the new building be known as the 
 " Madison Square Church House." In November 
 of the same year the committee inaugurated a line 
 of kindergarten work under the direction of Miss 
 Parsons. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Ballou resigned their position as 
 superintendents early in 1892 and their resignation 
 was accepted with an expression of deep regret on 
 the part of the committee and of appreciation of 
 their most faithful and efficient services. That which 
 our Gospel work on Third Avenue has since become 
 is due in very considerable measure to the secure 
 and evangelical foundation laid for it by the Ballous 
 in the six years that they were in charge. 
 
 Minutes of a meeting held March 15th, 1892, con- 
 tain the following memorandum. " Dr. Parkhurst 
 reported that George Graff had been secured as 
 superintendent, and that, for assistant, consideration 
 had been ofiven to the name of a Miss Haines of 
 Chicago, who had been connected with Graff in some 
 work there." At the meeting following, definite en- 
 gagement was reported as having been made with 
 
 50 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 Miss Haines. At the same meeting, Dr. Bishop re- 
 signed the treasurership of the committee and Mr. 
 William M. Kingsley was elected to fill the vacancy 
 so created. At about this time the Bureau of Infor- 
 mation work was commenced under the charge of 
 Mrs. G. L. Buckley. 
 
 The committee as constituted on January 7th, 
 1893, according to secretary's minutes as of that 
 date, was as follows: — 
 
 Rev. C. H. Parkhurst R. M. Montgomery 
 
 William M. Kingsley William C. Hill 
 
 Henry M. Humphrey Talbot Olyphant 
 
 William C. Stewart J. H. C. Nevius 
 
 J. Adams Bishop Arthur C. James 
 
 Henry N. Tifft Horace J. Fairchild 
 J. E. Read 
 
 In November, 1893, Mr. Tifft, who had been act-- 
 ing chairman during the illness of Mr. Read, was at 
 Mr. Read's death made chairman upon motion made 
 by Mr. Kingsley and seconded by Mr. Olyphant. 
 Anniversary exercises were held in November of that 
 year and addresses delivered by Rev. Drs. Davis 
 and Forbes, and by Messrs. John Crosby Brown and 
 William E. Dodge. 
 
 In 1894 our work was moved to 384 Third Avenue 
 under a lease of five years dating from April of that 
 year. On July ist, 1896, it was voted to discontinue 
 the kindergarten work because of lack of money and 
 want of room. 
 
 51 
 
THE THIRD AVENUE MISSION 
 
 The name of Miss Boyden as possible candidate 
 for the position of kindergartner is first mentioned 
 in the secretary's minutes of a committee meeting 
 held October 2d, 1896. Engagement was made with 
 her to commence work October 19th, her class to be 
 held at the Adams Memorial Church. 
 
 Mrs. Buckley was put at the head of the Bureau 
 of Information November ist, 1896, under the super- 
 vision of the Mission Committee. 
 
 On December 4th, 1896, it was reported from the 
 Kindergarten sub-committee that it had been thought 
 advisable that a ladies' committee of the Kindergar- 
 ten should be appointed and that Mrs. Stanton had 
 consented to serve as chairwoman of such committee. 
 
 In June of 1898 Mr. Graff, Superintendent, sud- 
 denly broke down in health and his place was tempo- 
 rarily filled by Rev. E.W. Bliss,with the understanding 
 that his services were to continue till December 31st, 
 1898. At the meeting in October of that year Mr. 
 H. M. Humphrey resigned the secretaryship and 
 Mr. F. L. Slade was elected in his place. 
 
 The sudden death of Mr. Bliss, whose superin- 
 tendency though brief had been singularly successful, 
 created a vacancy not easily filled, and it was not till 
 the first of March, 1900, that Mr. George A. Hilton 
 commenced work as his successor, who, however, 
 continued service only till near the close of 1901. 
 Since that date we have been served by Rev. Lee 
 
 52 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 W. Beattie, who came to us recommended by Rev. 
 Drs. Lyman Abbott and George Alexander. 
 
 The following is a statement of the present (Janu- 
 ary 25th, 1906) membership of the committee in 
 charge of the Gospel work at the Church, together 
 with its organization and the workers under its 
 direction. 
 
 Henry N. Tifft . . . Chairman 
 William M. Kingsley . Treasurer 
 Francis Louis Slade . Secretary 
 
 Rev. Charles H. Parkhurst, D.D. 
 William C. Stuart Matthew Beattie 
 
 Arthur C. James E. C. Bodman 
 
 J. H. C. Nevius Eugene Delano 
 
 Seth Sprague Terry J. E. Milholland 
 
 Rev. Lee W. Beattie Superintendent 
 
 Miss E. L. Haines Director of Women's Work 
 
 Miss Anna Parker - Director of Music and Children's Work 
 
 Miss Helen F. Grand Visiting Nurse 
 
 Miss I. V. Waldo Visitor 
 
 During the superintendency of Mr. Beattie up to 
 this time the work has been a steadily progressive 
 one, no special changes having in the meantime 
 transpired except in the matter of a change of domi- 
 cile of which a detailed account follows. 
 
 53 
 
Chlrch House 
 
 Corner Thirtieth Street and Third Avenue 
 
Review of the History of the Madison 
 Square Church House 
 
 IN October, 1898, owing to the urgent need of 
 better and larger accommodations for the gospel 
 meetings of our Third Avenue Mission, and for 
 other enterprises auxiliary to the gospel work, and 
 owing to the fact that our Kindergarten and Girls' 
 Clubs were compelled to meet elsewhere for lack of 
 proper quarters at No. 384 Third Avenue, a plan was 
 set on foot to secure sufificient funds from the mem- 
 bers of the Madison Square Presbyterian Church and 
 others who might be interested, to build and equip 
 a suitable building of our own, to house all the depart- 
 ments of our East Side work in one and the same 
 building, and, under proper care and supervision, to 
 allow also Oi resident settlement work there. 
 
 Having first received the approval, encouragement 
 and assistance of Dr. Parkhurst, and the promise of 
 generous support from certain interested friends, a 
 subscription paper was started in January, 1899, to 
 secure pledges for $100,000. 
 
 When this sum had been secured by March, 1899, 
 a Building Committee was appointed, consisting of 
 Francis Louis Slade, Chairman ; William M. Kings- 
 ley, Secretary and Treasurer ; Robert W. de Forest, 
 Charles H. Ludington, and Henry N. Tifft. 
 
 55 
 
REVIEW OF THE HISTORY OF 
 
 After diligent and fruitless search on their part for 
 some time for two suitable adjoining lots in the 
 neighborhood of our former Mission, a specially de- 
 sirable parcel of land on the northwest corner of 
 Third Avenue and Thirtieth Street, approximately 
 sixty by sixty feet, came unexpectedly into the market, 
 owing to the assignment of its owner, and, after due 
 consultation over the additional expense which would 
 be necessarily incurred in purchasing this large piece 
 of property, the Building Committee decided to buy 
 this land for the sum of $64,000, which sum, under 
 the circumstances, was considered a very favorable 
 figure. 
 
 Messrs. Howells & Stokes were selected as archi- 
 tects, and on account of their special interest in this 
 kind of work, devoted themselves most whole-heart- 
 edly to the arrangement of all the details necessary 
 for our special kinds of work. 
 
 The three old tenements occupying these lots were 
 torn down, and work on the excavation and building 
 was commenced in the first week of July, 1900, Mr. 
 Charles T. Wills being the general contractor. As 
 no special obstacles were encountered, the building 
 progressed rapidly, so that by the time winter set in, 
 it was roofed over. 
 
 The Church House contains the following rooms, 
 arranged to meet our special requirements. On the 
 ground floor, facing the main entrance, is the audi- 
 
 56 
 
THE MADISON SQUARE CHURCH HOUSE 
 
 torium, where our daily evening gospel meetings are 
 held, and where is also conducted an employment 
 bureau in the morning, the Helping Hand Tuesday 
 afternoons. Miss Parker's children's meetings other 
 afternoons, and any other special meetings or enter- 
 tainments. On either side of the main entrance are 
 the two Superintendents' offices. On the second 
 floor is a large kindergarten room ; a corner room 
 used for Bible Classes ; the Creche, the Medical 
 Clinic, etc., and the Consultation Room, where the 
 Trustees have their meetings, and where informal 
 conferences are constantly held. On the third floor, 
 along the entire front of the building, is a library and 
 reading room. On this same floor are also the taste- 
 fully furnished Girls' Club rooms and class-rooms ; 
 a Boys' Club room, and women's bath-room. On 
 the top floor is a modest gymnasium, with dressing 
 room and shower baths adjoining ; and separated 
 from this, are quarters for the resident workers, 
 arranged like a modern flat. On the roof is a roof- 
 garden or playground for children. In the basement, 
 the Working Men's League has a large room, which 
 is open all the time for its members ; a Boys' Club 
 room, and, off it, a room for manual training and 
 carpentry ; the janitor's quarters ; heating plant, etc. 
 Toilet rooms are provided on each floor, except the 
 first. The entire building is fire-proof, and was con- 
 structed of the best materials, which resulted, however, 
 
 SI 
 
REVIEW OF THE HISTORY OF 
 
 in the expenditure for land, building and furnishings, 
 of a total sum amounting approximately to $150,000. 
 The additional money required was raised in two later 
 special subscriptions, largely from the same contribu- 
 tors, the final sum being paid out of the Easter col- 
 lection of April 1 2th, 1903. The property is now 
 free and clear of all indebtedness. 
 
 The building was completed and turned over by 
 the Building Committee on March 30th, 1901, to the 
 following Board of Trustees : 
 
 Dr. Charles H. Parkhurst, Henry N. Tifft, Robert 
 W. de Forest, Eugene Delano, William M. Kingsley, 
 Arthur C. James, William C. Stuart, E. C. Bodman, 
 and Francis Louis Slade, who had been designated 
 in the articles of incorporation as the first Trustees ; 
 the incorporation having taken place on the 19th day 
 of December, 1900, with the following gentlemen as 
 incorporators : D. Willis James, Henry N. Tifft, 
 William M. Kingsley, Robert W. de Forest, Henry 
 M. Humphrey, J. H. C. Nevius, Henry V. Parsell, 
 Eugene Delano, Arthur C. James, Edward C. Bod- 
 man, Dr. Charles H. Parkhurst, John S. Kennedy, 
 William C. Stuart, Charles H. Ludington, and 
 Francis Louis Slade. 
 
 The acceptance of the building by the Board of 
 Trustees, and its formal devotement to Christian 
 uses, was occasion of a large gathering of our church 
 people and of those interested in the work, on the 
 
 S8 
 
THE MADISON SQUARE CHURCH HOUSE 
 
 ESSE F. Forbes, 
 
 Adams Memorial Church. 
 
 evening of March 30th, 1901, when the building was 
 thrown open for inspection. The services on the 
 occasion consisted of : 
 
 Reading of Scripture i ^^^- J^^' 
 
 i Pastor of 
 
 Prayer i ^^°- ^- Hilton, 
 
 I Superintendent of the Gospel work. 
 
 Transfer of Building to Board j Francis Louis Slade, 
 
 of Trustees I Chairman of Building Committee. 
 
 A . r r> r J- ( ROBERT W. DE FoREST. 
 
 Acceptance of Building ] wo, 
 
 I Chairman Board of Trustees. 
 
 Brief Address and Prayer of ( ^ ^ 
 
 ^ ,. ^. < Rev. Chas. H. Parkhurst. 
 
 Dedication I 
 
 Address Robert W. de Forest. 
 
 At the exercises, held in the evening of the same 
 day, the auditorium was packed by an appreciative 
 audience of our Third Avenue Mission people. 
 
 The new building affords healthful accommodations 
 that are specifically adapted to each of the various 
 lines of our work, and in the five years of its exist- 
 ence only slight modifications in the building equip- 
 ment and in the arrangements were needed to meet 
 satisfactorily all the demands of our work ; so that 
 we feel that the Madison Square Church House has 
 fully answered all the high expectations of those who 
 planned it and made its construction possible. 
 
 59 
 
The Present Church 
 
The Erection of the New Church 
 
 AS early as 1896, the question began to be con- 
 sidered whether, owing to the erection and 
 extension of the MetropoHtan Life Insurance 
 building commenced in the spring of 1890, it would 
 not be to our interest as a church to build elsewhere 
 if a suitable site could be found on Madison Square 
 or in its neighborhood. The rumor having reached 
 us that the Insurance Company was itself desirous of 
 securing our property and of extending its building 
 to cover the entire block, a joint conference of our 
 Elders and Trustees was called to discuss the situa- 
 tion. This conference was held on the afternoon of 
 May 14th, 1894, but was adjourned to May 21st, 
 when Mr. D. Willis James was chosen Chairman and 
 Mr. William E. Stiger, Clerk. After consultation, 
 it was unanimously agreed that we would not enter- 
 tain the idea of "moving uptown," and the only ad- 
 ditional action taken was to empower the Chairman 
 to select one of the conferees to make enquiries as 
 to whether three suitable contiguous lots were obtain- 
 able elsewhere on the Square or upon some street or 
 avenue adjacent thereto. Mr. A. D. Juilliard was 
 appointed for that purpose, but as he was unable to 
 serve, Mr. James made subsequent selection of Mr. 
 
 61 
 
THE ERECTION OF THE NEW CHURCH 
 
 William C. Sturges. No property of the desired 
 kind was found obtainable and the matter rested at 
 that point. 
 
 Several years passed during which the congregation 
 became increasingly restive under the growing en- 
 croachment of our neighbor's building operations, for 
 while we could not deny the elegance of the structure 
 they were erecting, it none the less on that account 
 excluded what we considered our fair share of light 
 and air, and by force of contrast practically destroyed 
 the architectural grace and dignity of our church. 
 
 The first definite overtures looking to the purchase 
 of our property and the sale to us of the lots opposite 
 were made to Mr. William C. Sturges, Chairman of 
 our Board of Trustees, by a representative of the 
 Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, in May of 
 1902. The matter was informally considered during 
 the season following and it was not until the autumn 
 of that year (1902) that definite action was taken in 
 the shape of a conference called at the office of Mr. 
 Sturges, 74 Wall Street, on October 24th. 
 
 At this conference there were present Mr. Wm. C. 
 Sturges, in the chair, and Messrs. D. Willis James, 
 John Crosby Brown, Wm. N. Crane, John S. Ken- 
 nedy, E. C. Bodman, F. L. Slade, Ambrose K. Ely, 
 F. C. Colton, D. T. Warren, R. W. de Forest, Wm. 
 E. Stiger, Charles T. Kissam, L. L. Stanton and W. 
 M. Kingsley. 
 
 62 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 Invited to attend but not present : Rev. C. H. Park- 
 hurst, Messrs. C. H. Ludington, A. D. Juilliard and 
 J. E. Milholland. 
 
 Mr. Kingsley was appointed Secretary of the 
 meeting. 
 
 Mr. Sturges stated that after several conferences 
 with representatives of the MetropoHtan Life Insur- 
 ance Company, the Company had submitted plans of 
 a church and chapel to be erected on lots on the 
 northeast corner of Madison Avenue and Twenty- 
 fourth Street, inquiring whether the Church would 
 accept the same with the lots in exchange for the 
 present site opposite ; and that the object of this 
 conference was to obtain the views of members as 
 to the course to be pursued and the response to be 
 made. 
 
 The following letter from Dr. Parkhurst was read: 
 
 New York, Oct. 21, 1902. 
 
 133 East 35th Street. 
 
 My dear Mr. Stiger : 
 
 I thank you for your invitation to the Confer- 
 ence to be held on Thursday. Unfortunately for 
 me, however, I engaged to be in Massachusetts on 
 that day by appointment made some time since and 
 beg that you will make my excuses to the gentlemen 
 who may be present on that occasion. 
 
 63 
 
THE ERECTION OF THE NEW CHURCH 
 
 In view of my profound interest in the matter 
 that is to be considered at that time, shall I be too 
 presuming if I express to you my opinion on three 
 points as follows : 
 
 1. If men like those who are to participate in the 
 Conference are substantially of one mind in regard to 
 the matter in question, they can rely undoubtedly 
 upon the concurrence of the congregation and need 
 not spend very much time in getting a census oi 
 opinion before making an initial move. 
 
 2. The congregation, through a properly consti- 
 tuted committee, should have the charge of church 
 erection and not leave it in any manner in the hands 
 of the Metropolitan Insurance Company. 
 
 3. Although that Company is anxious to become 
 possessed of our lot, and although we have pretty 
 effectively 'cornered' them, yet it would be unfortu- 
 nate to lose the present chance of bettering ourselves 
 by imposing upon them extreme or inflexible condi- 
 tions more strenuous than they could be brought to 
 concede to. 
 
 Anticipating a favorable issue of the Conference, 
 
 ' Yours very sincerely, 
 
 (Signed) C. H. Parkhurst. 
 
 After general discussion, Mr. Stiger offered the 
 following resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That a proposition to exchange the prop- 
 erty belonging to the Madison Square Presbyterian 
 
 64 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 Church at the southeast corner of Madison Avenue 
 and Twenty-fourth Street for the property at the 
 northeast corner of Madison Avenue and Twenty- 
 fourth Street, together with an amount in cash suffi- 
 cient to properly erect and equip a suitable church 
 edifice and chapel thereon with a reasonable amount 
 for church purposes, would be favorably received 
 and recommended to the congregation for favorable 
 action. 
 
 Resolved further, That a committee of five be 
 appointed by the Chairman of this meeting, the 
 Chairman to be one of such committee, to formulate 
 the terms upon which such exchange would be ap- 
 proved and recommended for action, and that such 
 committee be authorized to conduct such negotia- 
 tions relative to the matter as may be necessary. 
 
 The resolution was seconded by Mr. Stanton, and 
 after further discussion was adopted unanimously. 
 The meeting adjourned. 
 
 W. M. KiNGSLEY, 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 The above-mentioned committee, constituted as 
 ordered by the Conference, consisted of Mr. William 
 C. Sturges, Chairman, and Messrs. D. Willis James, 
 John Crosby Brown, William E. Stiger and John S. 
 Kennedy. 
 
 As a result of the conference between representa- 
 tives of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company 
 and the committee appointed to represent the Madi- 
 
 65 
 
THE ERECTION OF THE NEW CHURCH 
 
 son Square Presbyterian Church, the following action 
 was taken at a meeting of the Trustees of said 
 church, held January 23, 1903: 
 
 Resolved, That a Special Corporate Meeting of the 
 Madison Square Presbyterian Church be held in the 
 Church on Monday, February 2d, 1903, at 4:30 o'clock 
 in the afternoon, for the purpose of considering and 
 acting upon a proposition to sell and convey the 
 property of the said church, situated at the southeast 
 corner of Madison Avenue and Twenty-fourth Street, 
 in the Borough of Manhattan, City of New York, 
 and to acquire, in part payment therefor, the prop- 
 erty situated at the northeast corner of Madison 
 Avenue and Twenty-fourth Street, in the Borough 
 of Manhattan, City of New York; and, if such sale be 
 approved and consented to, to authorize the Board 
 of Trustees of this church to execute and deliver all 
 necessary contracts and other instruments in writing 
 and to take all such measures as may be proper to 
 consummate such sale; and further, if such sale be 
 approved, to consider and take action upon a prop- 
 osition to erect a church edifice and chapel on the 
 said property, so to be acquired as aforesaid; and to 
 take such further or other action in relation to the 
 premises as may be deemed necessary. 
 
 Notice of such special corporate meeting was read 
 from the pulpit on the two following Sabbaths, and 
 the meeting was li^ld in the Lecture Room of the 
 church, February 2d, at 4:30 o'clock. It was called 
 to order by Mr. William N. Crane, who nominated 
 
 66 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 as Chairman Mr. William C. Sturges, who was duly 
 elected. Mr. William M. Kingsley was elected 
 Secretary. Prayer was offered by Dr. Parkhurst. 
 Resolutions, giving the consent of the corporation to 
 the sale of the property of the church situated at the 
 southeast corner of Madison Avenue and Twenty- 
 fourth Street, to the Metropolitan Life Insurance 
 Company in consideration of the conveying to the 
 corporation of the property situated at the northeast 
 corner of Madison Avenue and Twenty-fourth Street 
 and the payment of the sum of $325,000 cash, were 
 offered by Mr. Ezra M. Kingsley, who moved their 
 adoption. (This was the last public service rendered 
 by our respected and beloved friend, Mr. Ezra M. 
 Kingsley.) 
 
 The above motion having been seconded, letters 
 were read from Mr. D. Willis James and Mr. John 
 Crosby Brown in which was expressed their hearty 
 approval of the proposed sale, after which the reso- 
 lutions proposed by Mr. Kingsley were unanimously 
 adopted. 
 
 Resolutions in the following terms, providing for 
 the erection of a new church edifice, were offered by 
 Mr. Frederic C. Colton, which were seconded and 
 adopted : 
 
 Whereas, This corporation has given its assent to 
 the sale and conveyance of its property situated at 
 the southeast corner of Madison Avenue and Twenty- 
 
 67 
 
THE ERECTION OF THE NEW CHURCH 
 
 fourth Street, in the Borough of Manhattan, to the 
 Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in consider- 
 ation of the sum of Three hundred and twenty-five 
 thousand dollars ($325,000) in cash and the convey- 
 ance to this corporation of the property situated at 
 the northeast corner of Madison Avenue and Twenty- 
 fourth Street, in said Borough ; the dimensions 
 thereof being about seventy-four (74) feet on Madi- 
 son Avenue and one hundred and fifty (150) feet 
 on Twenty-fourth Street ; and 
 
 Whereas, The said northeast corner of Madison 
 Avenue and Twenty-fourth Street is an admirable 
 location for a church, and is well adapted to the 
 requirements of this corporation ; and it is deemed 
 eminently desirable that this church shall remain in 
 the section of the city, where, for nearly fifty years, 
 it has stood as a power for righteousness ; and 
 
 Whereas, The New York Presbytery has duly ap- 
 proved of said new location : 
 
 Now, therefore, be it resolved. That upon title being 
 acquired to the said property at the northeast corner 
 of Madison Avenue and Twenty-fourth Street, this 
 corporation do proceed, without unnecessary delay, 
 to erect thereon a church edifice and chapel of suit- 
 able character and dimensions, and to furnish and 
 equip the same ; and 
 
 Be it further resolved, That we recommend to the 
 Board of Trustees that, in appointing a Building 
 Committee, they include among the members thereof 
 
 68 
 
Rk\. lESbE ¥. FORHES, I'H.l). 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 the following-named gentlemen : Messrs. John Crosby 
 Brown, D. Willis James, John S. Kennedy, William 
 M. Kingsley and Louis C. Tiffany. 
 
 At a meeting of the Trustees held three days 
 later, namely, February 5th, the Chairman and Clerk 
 of the Board were authorized, conditional upon the 
 approval of the sale by the Supreme Court, to make 
 and execute all contracts and other instruments in 
 writing and to take all such measures as might be 
 necessary and proper to consummate the sale. 
 
 The Building Committee as finally organized was 
 composed as follows : — 
 
 Edward C. Bodman, Chairman 
 William M. Kingsley, Vice-Chairman 
 Francis L. Slade, Secretary a?id Treasurer 
 
 John Crosby Brown John S. Kennedy 
 
 Robert W. de Forest Charles H. Parkhurst 
 D. Willis James William E. Stiger 
 
 Arthur C. James William C. Sturges 
 
 Louis C. Tiffany 
 
 The first meeting of the Building Committee was 
 held at No. 72 Wall Street on April 7th, 1903, at 
 which was effected a permanent organization as 
 stated above. 
 
 The following-named gentlemen were appointed a 
 committee to consider the selection of an architect 
 and report at a later meeting of the general com- 
 
 69 
 
THE ERECTION OF THE NEW CHURCH 
 
 mittee : — Messrs. R. W. de Forest, L. C. Tiffany, 
 Arthur C. James, E. C. Bodman, ex-officio, to which 
 was added at a subsequent meeting Rev. C. H. 
 Parkhurst. 
 
 At the meeting of the said committee held three 
 weeks later, that is, April 28th, Mr. de Forest, as 
 Chairman of the Committee appointed to recom- 
 mend an architect, submitted a very full report 
 recommending the selection of McKim, Mead and 
 White, with a statement of the reasons for such 
 choice. 
 
 The further report of said committee on architec- 
 ture and plans, submitted at a meeting of the full 
 Board on May 28th, was to the effect that conference 
 had been had with Messrs. McKim, Mead and White, 
 that said firm of architects had acceded to the 
 proposition made them, with an agreement to pre- 
 pare plans for the new church under the terms speci- 
 fied, with the understanding that the sum which the 
 church could expend did not exceed $325,000. Mr. 
 White then came before the committee and sub- 
 mitted a general scheme of construction, the elements 
 of which were a bold portico and front, a dome 
 above, the exterior materials to be brick and terra- 
 cotta and the columns of marble and granite, which 
 scheme in its main features was approved by the 
 
 Building Committee. 
 
 70 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 The committee met again on the 6th of January, 
 1904, and at that time a committee of three consist- 
 ing of Dr. Parkhurst, Messrs. A. C. James, WilHam 
 M. Kingsley, with Mr. E. C, Bodman as ex-officio 
 member, was appointed to report on an organ for 
 the new edifice and given power to sell our present 
 ororan and church furniture. 
 
 The Organ Committee reported to the general 
 committee on March 7th, recommending the accept- 
 ance of the specification by the Hutchings-Votey 
 Organ Co., which recommendation was accepted by 
 the committee. At this later meeting an executive 
 committee was on motion appointed, consisting of 
 the Chairman and Messrs. Kingsley, A. C. James, 
 F. L. Slade and Dr. Parkhurst, with full power to 
 act and for the special purpose of having oversight 
 of the building contracts. 
 
 On May 25th, 1904, the committee accepted the 
 building contracts drawn by McKim, Mead & White 
 and accepted by Mr. Wills, builder, and authorized 
 its execution. 
 
 (At this date, September 28th, 1906, the building 
 is nearly completed, and notice has been given of its 
 Dedication, October 14th, 1906.) 
 
 71 
 
Endowment of the Madison 
 Square Church 
 
 ONE of the most serious difficulties to which all 
 churches situated below Forty-second Street 
 are now or soon will be subjected is the up- 
 town drift of our city population. If all those migrat- 
 ing left part of their church loyalty and church money 
 behind them, the strain upon the down-town churches 
 would be less severe, but a considerable element of 
 them take all their ecclesiastical affections and funds 
 with them, and leave their church home to do the 
 best it can under reduced conditions. It was in view 
 of this situation that a number of years ago the ques- 
 tion was raised among the members of our church of 
 creating an Endowment Fund, the income of which 
 should be availed of to supplement the contributions 
 of existing members, so enabling the church to main- 
 tain itself at its present scale of expenditure and to 
 have secured to it a pledge of continued activity and 
 usefulness for the years to come. 
 
 It was not, however, till 1897 that the matter 
 began to be seriously considered, but the disturbed 
 condition incident to the Spanish-American war of 
 the year following rendered necessary the postpone- 
 ment of definite action. At the close of the war and 
 
 73 
 
ENDOWMENT OF THE MADISON SQUARE CHURCH 
 
 early in 1900, the matter was again taken up in a 
 conference held at the residence of the late Marcellus 
 Hartley and participated in by Messrs. Hartley, D. 
 Willis James and Dr. Parkhurst. At this conference 
 there was entire agreement as to the necessity for 
 such endowment, the only question being as to the 
 best means of its accomplishment. Subsequently a 
 conference was held at the residence of D. Willis 
 James, Esq., at which were present Messrs. James, 
 John Crosby Brown, William E. Stiger and Dr. Park- 
 hurst. It was then determined that the time was 
 opportune for action and it was agreed that no less 
 a sum than $200,000 should be raised for the purpose. 
 An appeal and subscription paper were accordingly 
 prepared and circulated ; the contract by which sub- 
 scribers bound themselves containing, among others, 
 these four express conditions : 
 
 First : That the said Fund so constituted shall be set apart 
 and forever appropriated as a fund to be known as the " Per- 
 manent Endowment Fund of the Trustees of the Madison 
 Square Presbyterian Church in the City of New York." 
 
 Second: That the said Fund shall be kept safely and 
 securely invested and that the income thereof, but only the 
 income thereof, shall be applied to the support and mainte- 
 nance of the said party of the second part according to its 
 corporate uses and purposes, or to the Support and Mainte- 
 nance of any Corporation of which it shall form a part by 
 means of consolidation. 
 
 74 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 Third: That the principal of said Fund shall forever be 
 kept inviolate and shall not at any time hereafter be expended 
 or appropriated for any purpose whatever. 
 
 Fourth: In case the said The Trustees of the Madison 
 Square Presbyterian Church in the City of New York, shall at 
 any time cease to exist, or shall remove from that portion of the 
 Borough of Manhattan lying South of the middle line of what 
 are now known as East and West Forty-second Streets, then 
 and in that event, inasmuch as the purposes for which the said 
 Fund will have been constituted will be impossible of accom- 
 plishment, all estate, right, title, interest and claim of the 
 said The Trustees of the Madison Square Presbyterian Church 
 in the City of New York, in and to said Fund and to each and 
 every part thereof, shall immediately cease and determine and 
 the said The Trustees of the Madison Square Presbyterian 
 Church in the City of New York, shall forthwith pay over the 
 said Fund and each and every part thereof to the Presbyterian 
 Hospital in the City of New York and the same shall there- 
 upon be and become the absolute property of the said Presby- 
 terian Hospital in the City of New York, and to it we and 
 each of us give the same. 
 
 The action thus unofficially taken was, at the 
 meeting of the Trustees of this church held January 
 1 6th, 1 90 1, formally approved, responsibility for the 
 safe-guarding of the funds assumed by the Trustees, 
 and Mr. William C. Sturges, Chairman of the Board, 
 and Mr. William E. Stiger, Clerk of the same, ap- 
 pointed a special committee to take entire charge of 
 and invest the moneys contributed toward, and con- 
 stituting the Fund. 
 
 7S 
 
ENDOWMENT OF THE MADISON SQUARE CHURCH 
 
 According to the report made to the Trustees, 
 March 13th, 1902, by the special committee having 
 the matter in charge, the total subscription as of that 
 date, together with the accrued interest amounted to 
 $167,910.70. 
 
 On the morning of Easter Sunday, April 12th, 
 1903, an appeal was made for an offering of $40,000 
 of which $15,000 should be used in discharging the 
 mortgage indebtedness on the Church House and 
 the balance applied to the Endowment Fund. The 
 amount of the offering was $42,545.56, from which 
 subtracting the aforesaid $15,000 there remained a 
 balance of $27,545.65 to be added to the Endowment 
 Fund. 
 
 On the ist of January, 1905, the gross amount 
 of contributions towards Endowment re- 
 ceived up to that date was $189,795.56 
 
 The amount of accrued interest to that date was 27,543.93 
 The grand total as of January ist, 1905, being $217,339.49 
 
 76 
 
The pages which follow are devoted to a 
 brief account of some of the lines of work 
 that are being prosecuted either on the Square 
 or at Third Avenue. 
 
The Ladies' Association 
 
 THE Ladies' Association was formed in 1882, 
 and organized in the election of Mrs. C. H. 
 Parkhurst, President; Mrs. C. H. Ludington, 
 Vice-President; Mrs. Martha J. Lamb, Secretary. Its 
 object, as expressed in Article 2 of its Constitution, 
 is " to unite the interests of the several charitable 
 organizations maintained by the ladies of this church; 
 to widen the influence and usefulness of these organ- 
 izations by extending a knowledge of their work and 
 interest ; to secure the cooperation of those ladies 
 whose interest is not already enlisted ; to welcome 
 strangers and cultivate social intercourse among 
 members of the church and congregation ; and, as 
 opportunity may suggest, to devise new lines of 
 work." Of the twenty-five original officers and 
 managers, nine are still on the list. 
 
 The five societies already actively at work in the 
 church and combined to form the association were, 
 the Home Missionary Society, Foreign Missionary 
 Society, Employment Society, Industrial School and 
 Band of Ministering Children. 
 
 During the first year of its organization, the Loan 
 Relief Society was formed, making six, whose record 
 of work was included in the first annual report of 
 the Ladies' Association at the close of the winter of 
 1883. 
 
 79 
 
THE LADIES ASSOCIATION 
 
 Among those who were officers of the several 
 societies at that time, occur the names of Mrs. 
 William H. Wickham, Mrs. William Dowd, Mrs. 
 Mary Hartley Brown, Mrs. William H. Barbour, Mrs. 
 A. B. Wetmore, Mrs. C. H. Patterson, Mrs. F. E. 
 Fairchild, Mrs. H. C. Eno, Mrs. A. D. Juilliard, Mrs. 
 J. E. Byrne, Mrs. A. A. Pratt, Miss Helen Barney, 
 Mrs. Frances P. Freeman, Mrs. Arthur B. Graves, 
 Mrs. Charles S. Spencer, Mrs. N. A. Coudrey. Sev- 
 eral of these names we find still among the working 
 force of the organization, while many others have 
 passed on to the field of larger opportunity. 
 
 The Home Missionary Society at that time re- 
 ported contributions amounting to $583, used in fit- 
 ting out boxes for Home Missionaries, and in the 
 erection of a church building in Indian Territory. 
 In 1905 this amount had grown to $1,662. 
 
 The Foreign Missionary Society announced their 
 gifts as then amounting to $355, which sum was 
 applied to the salary of Miss Bushnell in Africa, and 
 to the maintenance of hospital beds at Ooroomiah, 
 Persia. This present year the treasurer's report 
 shows $4,125, which is employed in paying the sal- 
 aries of six missionaries, contributing to the general 
 fund and to scholarship and educational work. 
 
 The Employment Society reported thirty-four 
 women employed and about $300 received from sub- 
 scriptions. Nineteen hundred and five showed 
 
 80 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 seventy-six women given work, whose pay was made 
 up from an appropriation of $850 from the Church 
 Budget. 
 
 The Industrial School was carried on in the Adams 
 Memorial Church at small expense by individual 
 subscriptions. There were 113 children on the roll 
 and twenty-two regular teachers, which is an advance 
 over the present conditions in the Sewing School at 
 the Church House. 
 
 The Band of Ministering Children was forme 1 in 
 November, 1882, and made an excellent showing at 
 the end of the winter, in having a sale from which 
 was realized over $500, to be used for Fresh Air 
 work and in other offices for poor and sick children 
 of the East Side. 
 
 In 1883 the Loan Relief Society was organized 
 for the purpose of lending a helping hand to those 
 requiring assistance, it being understood that some 
 equivalent return should be made for help rendered. 
 The working capital of nearly $500 was subscribed, 
 which has been turned over and over each year since 
 the formation of the society. This was used for the 
 purchase of coal at a minimum price, and for its 
 re-sale to the people of the Adams Memorial Church 
 and Mission at the same rate ; also for loaning small 
 sums under guarantee of repayment. Other depart- 
 ments of the Loan Relief Society work were Visita- 
 tion, Legal Aid and Medical Aid, with a staff of 
 
 81 
 
THE LADIES ASSOCIATION 
 
 physicians who volunteered their service. These 
 latter lines were prosecuted until there seemed no 
 farther necessity for them, and the Coal Club now 
 remains as epitomizing the Loan Relief Society, and 
 continues its splendid work in the interest of our East 
 Side people. 
 
 The summing up of the financial statements of 
 the societies combined in the Association in 1883, 
 amounted to $1,763, not including the working 
 capital of the Loan Relief Society. Nineteen hun- 
 dred and five showed an aggregate of very nearly 
 $13,000. 
 
 In 1884 the McAll Mission to France was for the 
 first time represented in the Association by man- 
 agers, and, in 1891, the Union Missionary Society 
 and the Woman's Branch of City Missions. 
 
 Since the Association was formed in 1882, several 
 societies have had an existence of a longer or shorter 
 duration. As, for example, the Mothers' Association, 
 which was formed to aid young mothers of our own 
 congregation in the bringing up of their children. 
 In the same year was formed the Band of Christian 
 Workers from among the children of the church. 
 Two years later the Family Visitation Society came 
 into existence, and for several years was of great 
 service to our Church House workers, in keeping 
 church and mission families in close touch with each 
 other and in finding employment for the needy 
 
 82 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 through the Information Bureau. In 1895 the Help- 
 ing Hand was received into our organization. It, 
 too, had had an individual existence since 1889. 
 
 The first report of the Junior Guild bears the date 
 of 1896, though giving evidence of previous exist- 
 ence. It was composed of young ladies of the 
 church, and had a three-fold object, — City, Home and 
 Foreign Missions. The Church House was the im- 
 mediate field of city work, and brought its members 
 and our East Side work into closer relations than 
 before. The Needle Work Guild devotes itself to 
 securing and distributing garments for the needy 
 poor, and is represented in the Association in its 
 report of 1898, as were shortly after, the Kinder- 
 garten and the Children's Sewing School. 
 
 The Family Visitation Society, as such, has dis- 
 banded, but its work is, in some of its departments, 
 still maintained in the Information Bureau, and the 
 visiting of families, while not reported, is carried on 
 by individuals, under the leadership of Miss Haines. 
 
 The Junior Guild has become the Junior Associa- 
 tion, giving its entire energies to various phases of 
 work in the Church House. A trained nurse is un- 
 der its care ; it provides the Christmas tree for the 
 children ; it also maintains a club and classes for 
 young girls, and is altogether a most valuable auxili- 
 ary to the spiritual work of the Madison Square 
 Church House. 
 
 83 
 
THE LADIES ASSOCIATION 
 
 The Prospect Hill Working Girls' Club was 
 opened in 1886. Previous to that time attempts had 
 been made, but unsuccessfuly, to hold together the 
 working girls of the East Side in a club. The present 
 organization only dates back to 1889. It was formed 
 and carried on for many years by members of our 
 church, but the older members of the club have more 
 and more assumed the responsibility, until, at the 
 present time, it is largely in the hands of the work- 
 ing girls themselves. 
 
 Up to the year 1886, each society had used its own 
 separate method for collecting funds ; the church 
 was partially canvassed for each cause. In that year, 
 a plan for combined effort was devised by the Home 
 and Foreign Mission Societies. The church was 
 districted, collectors supplied from our own members 
 and a systematic canvass of the whole congregation 
 effected. The result was eminently successful, in- 
 creasing the amounts received for each of the causes. 
 Previous to that the managers for the French work 
 in Paris, called the McAll Mission, had canvassed 
 the church in much the same way. Subsequently, 
 in consultation with the officers of the three above- 
 named societies and the representatives of the 
 Women's Branch of City Missions, a combined can- 
 vass was decided upon, which has been in operation 
 to this date, 1906. 
 
 84 
 
T^ 
 
 The Employment Society 
 
 HE beginning of the Employment Society 
 ■ takes us almost as far back as the beginning 
 of the Mission Sunday-school, from which 
 came the Adams Memorial Church. During the Civil 
 War, many of the ladies of the church co-operated in 
 making garments for the soldiers. It seems to have 
 been the suggestion of Mr. Theodore Roosevelt, the 
 father of the present President, that this work of 
 patriotism could be combined with the Mission work, 
 and he interested the ladies of the church in provid- 
 ing sewing for the wives and the sisters of the men 
 who had gone into the army. Out of this interest 
 grew the Employment Society, among whose prime 
 movers were Mrs. Bixby, Mrs. Ely, Miss Oilman, 
 Mrs. Lyon, Mrs. Martin and Mrs. William Wells. 
 Each member contributed fifteen dollars, enough to 
 pay for the work of one woman during the season. 
 
 The work was given out every week from the 
 Mission Chapel on Third Avenue, and each woman 
 on returning the work that had been given her re- 
 ceived fifty cents (afterward increased to seventy- 
 five cents). During the war all the garments and 
 sheets made were given to the army. After the war 
 the garments were as far as possible sold. A report 
 made in 1890, speaking of those days says : " Many 
 
 8s 
 
THE EMPLOYMENT SOCIETY 
 
 of these women were from the very poor and most 
 of their work was badly done, therefore unsalable 
 and had to be given away. This was especially dis- 
 couraging, as the material used was then forty cents 
 per yard, and the few ladies who were active in the 
 society labored diligently to cut and prepare the sew- 
 ing for the fifty women then employed. . . . The 
 society was re -organized in 1872, and a little book of 
 by-laws published. For these items of interest we 
 are indebted to our president, Mrs. Bixby, who has 
 filled that position most faithfully ever since the 
 formation of the society nearly thirty years ago." 
 
 Another account says : " The wife of the janitor 
 used to sell some garments during the week, and at 
 one time women peddlers came to get clothes which 
 they could carry from house to house, a relief to our 
 crowded shelves, but not altogether pleasant to deal 
 with. ... I remember expeditions down town to 
 purchase goods, several pieces at a time from Lathrop 
 & Ludington, and having great bundles sent to our 
 house to be distributed among the cutters. My 
 mother was sometimes one of them ; Mrs. Bogert 
 another, a tall Mrs. Collins another, and Mrs. Slade, 
 who was by no means tall. This gave us patterns of 
 various sizes. Miss J. L. Daggett was, I think, an- 
 other. Some of the garments were cut at the rooms, 
 but that was distracting, when work must be received 
 and inspected and paid for and a fresh supply given 
 
 86 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 out at the same time. Mrs. William G. Lyon was 
 another cutter. Mrs. D. Willis James used to come 
 and help wind thread to put with the bundles of 
 work, and Bella Jones worked there with me." 
 
 In still another account we are told: "At that 
 time and indeed for many years after, even in my 
 day, the garments were so badly made that we could 
 not sell them at all. Now not a garment goes on 
 the shelves that cannot be sold and worn, and much 
 of the work is ordered work by other charity institu- 
 tions and hospitals, and by the women themselves. 
 . . . The weekly coming for work does more to keep 
 many of the women busy and give them courage 
 than anything else during the week, as it is a real 
 social function for many of them. We have many 
 years substituted for the ' Pink Ice-cream Day' (the 
 last Tuesday in March), groceries which the women 
 take home in baskets, usually about ten packages 
 apiece, of the best and most economical food and a 
 pot of some good sauce or sweetmeats. . . . Dr. 
 Adams told me the Employment Society had done 
 more to make the mission on Third Avenue possible 
 than any one influence he knew of. . . . We have 
 tried to make the women feel that it is a business 
 institution, and that they must earn what they get so 
 far as possible. We now have a decent lot of self- 
 respecting but very poor women, where, even in my 
 day, they were a lot of untidy, irresponsible children 
 
 87 
 
THE EMPLOYMENT SOCIETY 
 
 crying if they did not get pay and work, and many 
 of them hardly knowing how to thread a needle." 
 
 When the chapel became too small and the new 
 church on Thirtieth Street was built, the Employ- 
 ment Society had become such an important part of 
 the work that the ladies interested were allowed to 
 fit up one room for their special use. 
 
 Starting from small beginnings the work has in- 
 creased till for a good many years the number em- 
 ployed has been between seventy and eighty each year. 
 
 The society as at present organized is as follows : 
 
 Hon. President President 
 
 Mrs. C. H. Patterson Miss Martha E. Woodbury 
 
 Treasurer Assistant- Treasurer 
 
 Miss H. B. Woodruff Miss Leila Davis 
 
 Secretary 
 Mrs. Charles A. Munger 
 Cashier Assistant-Cashier 
 
 Miss Eleanor L. Woodruff Miss Ethel Smith 
 
 Superintendent of Work 
 Miss Julia C. Wells 
 
 Assistants 
 Miss Elizabeth Oakley Miss Mabel Jones Miss Ross 
 
 Superintendent of Sales 
 Mrs. Cowdrey-Brown 
 
 Purchasing Committee 
 Mrs. William Nichols Shaw 
 
 Committee on Home Cutting 
 Mrs. William Brennan Mrs. E. T. Hassey 
 
 Mrs. F. G. Couch Miss Montsalvatge 
 
 Mrs. Elebash Mrs. S. E. Morrison 
 
 Mrs. Benj. Griffen Mrs. S. H. Talcott 
 
 88 
 
Loan Relief Society 
 
 yl T an informal meeting held at the residence of 
 /-\ Mrs. M. H. Brown, May loth, 1882, the Loan 
 "*- -^ Relief Society was formed, composed of 
 members from the Madison Square Presbyterian 
 Church, to work in connection with the Thirtieth 
 Street Memorial Chapel. 
 
 The Society was organized as follows : Mrs. M. 
 Hartley Brown, President, Mrs. William H. Barbour, 
 Treasurer, Miss Grace H. Dodge, Secretary. Trus- 
 tees, Rev. Dr. Parkhurst, Rev. E. A. Elmore, Rev. 
 Louis Wolferz, Mr. W. P. St. John, Mrs. Charles H. 
 Parkhurst, Mrs. William H. Wickham, Mrs. Charles 
 Spencer, Mrs. William Earl Dodge, Mrs. O. P. Hub- 
 bard, Mrs. M. J. Lamb, Mrs. Harvey, Miss Emily 
 Smith, Mrs. N. A. Cowdry, Mrs. Francis Tows, Mrs. 
 C. H. Hubbard. 
 
 Article H of the constitution is as follows: Its 
 object shall be to devise methods for assisting the 
 poor to help themselves; to loan money in small 
 sums upon good security to those temporarily dis- 
 abled by misfortune, and articles necessary for the 
 comfort and recovery of the sick ; to supply medical 
 attendance and medicines gratuitously when needful, 
 or to secure their purchase for the poor at a low rate; 
 to visit the sufferers in their homes, and thoroughly 
 
 89 
 
LOAN RELIEF SOCIETY 
 
 investigate into the nature of their distresses. Also 
 to tender legal aid and protection, to give counsel 
 and advice, and to help those who are oppressed and 
 defrauded. 
 
 In June, by the advice and with the assistance of 
 Mr. Mazet, the Society was formally incorporated in 
 accordance with the laws of the State of New York. 
 The Society resolved itself into several special 
 committees of which the most important were the 
 following : 
 
 Visiting Committee 
 Mrs. N. A. CowDRY, Chairman 
 Mrs. Wm. H. Wickham Miss Mary Taylor 
 
 Miss Susie Lane Rev. E. A. Elmore 
 
 Rev. Louis Wolferz Mr. Williams 
 
 Coal Committee 
 
 Mrs. Martha J. Lamb, Chairman 
 
 Mrs. Charles S. Spencer Mrs. W. H. Barbour 
 
 Rev. Edgar A. Elmore Rev. Louis Wolferz 
 
 Mrs. Thomas H. Hubbard 
 
 Legal Aid Committee 
 Robert Mazet 
 
 Medical Aid 
 Dr. Clarence E. Beebe 
 Mrs. Charles H. Parkhurst 
 
 Loan Committee 
 Mrs. Charles H. Parkhurst, Chairman 
 Miss Emily Smith Miss Martha J. Lamb 
 
 Mrs. Charles S. Spencer Rev. E. A, Elmore 
 Rev. Louis Wolferz 
 
 90 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 A few extracts are herewith transcribed from the 
 Society's first annual report: — 
 
 "In May, the Society became an incorporated insti- 
 tution, for the requirements of the legal department. . . 
 
 " The Committee on Coal has had for its object to 
 enable the poor to buy coal as reasonably as the rich. 
 To accomplish this the Committee took advantage 
 of the low price of coal in the early summer, buying 
 fifty tons, and contracting for fifty additional tons at 
 the same price, the coal being allowed to remain in 
 the yard and delivered as orders were sent. The 
 Committee in the fall were therefore able to sell 
 their coal at a saving to the people of upwards of one 
 dollar on each ton. The one hundred tons were ex- 
 hausted by December, but a fresh contract was made 
 with the dealer at wholesale rates. 
 
 " I St. A medical staff was selected, consisting of 
 two physicians. 2d. The cooperation of a competent 
 druggist was secured, with the understanding that 
 all patients in the care of either member of the staff 
 should obtain their medicines from him at a mini- 
 mum cost. . . . Eight cases have been treated, fifty- 
 three visits made, four patients discharged cured, 
 three improved, and one lost sight of. 
 
 " Twenty-five dollars was appropriated by the 
 Board of Management towards the Loan Depart- 
 ment. Out of this four money loans have been 
 made, two towards the purchasing of sewing ma- 
 
 91 
 
LOAN RELIEF SOCIETY 
 
 chines, and two in small sums ; and the loans have 
 been repaid promptly." 
 
 With the gradual improvement of the material con- 
 dition of the Adams Memorial Church people less 
 and less service is required to be rendered them, and 
 one after another the several lines of effort main- 
 tained in their behalf have been suspended until only 
 that of the Coal Club now remains. Of this latter 
 department there has not only been no abatement of 
 activity but a steady increase, and no too cordial 
 words can be spoken in commendation of the earnest- 
 ness and fidelity of Mrs. William H. Barbour who 
 for almost a quarter of a century has devoted herself 
 with untiring patience to the wholesale purchase of 
 coal and its retail among the members of the Adams 
 Memorial Church, and latterly also among the attend- 
 ants at the Church House. And it is an act of justice 
 also as well as of pleasure to acknowledge our indebt- 
 edness to Mr. H. L. Herbert, from whom our purchases 
 of coal have from year to year been made, and who 
 has not only dealt with us fairly, but more than fairly, 
 and always shown himself willing to put himself to 
 inconvenience in our interest and in the interest of 
 our patrons. 
 
 Commencing with the winter of 1882-3, and ter- 
 minating with the winter of 1904-5, the number of 
 tons of coal sold each of the succeeding winters is as 
 follows: 
 
 92 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 TONS 
 
 1882-3 ^49 
 
 1883-4 109 
 
 1884-5 103 
 
 1885-6 98 
 
 1886-7 139 
 
 1887-8 170 
 
 1888-9 222 
 
 1889-1890 161 
 
 189O-I 133 
 
 189I-2 151 
 
 1892-3 209 
 
 1893-4 182 
 
 1894-5 185 
 
 1895-6 175 
 
 1896-7 203 
 
 1897-8 158 
 
 1898-9 165 
 
 1899— 1900 164 
 
 I 900- 1 222 
 
 I9OI-2 275 
 
 1902-3 208 
 
 1903-4 328 
 
 1904-5 362 
 
 4,271 tons 
 
 Making a grand total of 4,271 tons, and which 
 involves a saving to our East Side purchasers of ap- 
 proximately $3,715.77, that is to say, about 87 cents 
 a ton. 
 
 93 
 
Ladies' Visitation Society and Bureau 
 of Information 
 
 IN the year 1891, a few ladies of the Madison 
 Square Church met at the house of Mrs. W. C. 
 Gulliver to organize what was afterwards called 
 the Ladies' Visitation Society. 
 
 This society was composed of ladies of the Church 
 who volunteered to take one or two families con- 
 nected with our Mission on Third Avenue under 
 their care, visit them from time to time, enquire into 
 the needs of each household, and give such aid and 
 encouragement as was deemed best. 
 
 Monthly meetings were held, and reports made by 
 the ladies, giving an account of the condition in 
 which they found their several families. 
 
 As the unanimous opinion seemed to be that the 
 need of work was one of the most pressing neces- 
 sities, and how to obtain it the most perplexing 
 problem for the tenement-house mother to solve, the 
 Bureau of Information was planned and begun at the 
 Church House during the following year. 
 
 The object of the Bureau was to procure employ- 
 ment for the members of the Mission ; and all the 
 women in the care of the Visitation Society and 
 others outside were encouraged, with this end in 
 view, to register their names and addresses and the 
 kind of work desired. A committee of ladies volun- 
 
 95 
 
LADIES VISITATION COMMITTEE 
 
 teered to give their services for an hour or two each 
 morning at the Church House, to investigate the 
 references of all applicants and help them get into 
 touch with members of the church and others who 
 were in search of workers. Some of the ladies so 
 connected with the Bureau during the early period of 
 its existence were Mrs. Charles Burchard, Mrs. W. C. 
 Gulliver, Miss Alice Smith, Mrs. Charles W. Buckley. 
 From this small beginning the Bureau has grown, 
 not only in the number of applicants for positions 
 and employers seeking help, but the character of the 
 work has also somewhat changed and expanded. 
 
 Situations by the day are found and filled ; a list of 
 good boarding houses and lodging rooms is kept ; 
 comfortable homes in the country are found for men, 
 women and children ; and assistance of one kind or 
 another is rendered to some twelve hundred annually. 
 The Bureau which is open at the Church House, 
 432 Third Avenue, each day, except Saturday, from 
 10 A.M. to 12 r.M. is under the supervision of a Com- 
 mittee and under the direct management of Mrs. 
 Buckley. 
 
 The Committee for the current year is 
 
 Mr. William N. Crane 
 
 Rev. Charles H. Parkhurst 
 
 Mrs. William T. Bridge 
 
 Mrs. Francis W. Upham 
 
 Mrs. Charles D. Wadsworth 
 
 Mrs. Charles W. Buckley 
 
 96 
 
The Fresh Air Work 
 
 THE Young People's Society of the Madison 
 Square Presbyterian Church, Henry E. Mer- 
 riam, President, began the work of the Fresh 
 Air Committee of the church in 1880. 
 
 The work at that time was under the immediate 
 supervision of the Rev. Henry E. Wilson, co-oper- 
 ating with Mr. S. D. Williams, and they at that time 
 made up a small party of boys, sending them to Ar- 
 menia, a small station on the Harlem Railway. 
 
 The following year the work was continued by the 
 Young People's Committee, under the chairmanship 
 of Dr. Clarence E. Beebe, with the direct supervision 
 still in the hands of the Rev. Mr. Wilson and Mr. 
 Williams, and the work began to rapidly broaden. 
 
 In 1882 Dr. J. A. Bishop was put in charge of the 
 work, and had the responsibility of placing the chil- 
 dren at Park Ridge, N. J., parties being made up by 
 Mr. Wilson. In 1886 the work had grown to such 
 an extent that it was necessary to find a larger outlet 
 for the children, and farmers were found in the east- 
 ern part of Connecticut who were willing to take the 
 parties during the heated season ; although these 
 places were more remote, the Sound trip proved to 
 be a great attraction, and the work was continued 
 most successfully until Mr. Williams' death in 1901. 
 
 97 
 
FRESH AIR WORK 
 
 After this date Miss M. E. Beardslee of the Adams 
 Memorial Sunday School and Miss Haines of the 
 Church House took Mr. Williams' place, and the 
 work is still being continued along the same lines, 
 except that a permanent home has been procured at 
 Fort Montgomery on the Hudson River. 
 
 From 1882 to 1904 the number of beneficiaries of 
 the Fresh Air work was 6,150, and the total amount 
 spent for their summer outings was $18,500. The 
 money at first was procured by voluntary subscrip- 
 tion for this specific purpose from members of the 
 church, and latterly has been disbursed by the Budget 
 Committee. 
 
 In all these years there have been only three acci- 
 dents, two were deaths by drowning, and the other a 
 minor accident. 
 
 98 
 
The Helping Hand 
 
 THE Helping Hand was started as a sewing 
 class in 1889 by Mrs. Talbot Olyphant at the 
 request of Mrs. Ballou, who preceded Miss 
 Haines in the old Church House. At the first meet- 
 ing there were seven women present who had been 
 gathered together by Mrs. J. Crosby Brown in some 
 Mothers' Meetings. 
 
 She was at once joined in the growing work by 
 Mrs. Wm. Adams, Mrs. B. deF. Curtiss and Miss 
 Gillet, and upon her resignation in 1891, Miss Gillet 
 became the first Directress. The religious exercises 
 were conducted by Mrs. George Wood, now a mis- 
 sionary in Syria. 
 
 The object of the Helping Hand has been to teach 
 the mothers of the Church House Mission to make 
 garments for themselves, to bring them into pleasant 
 associations and give them one-half hour of practical 
 and religious instruction. At first the material and 
 garments were given free, but it was found better 
 before long to charge one-half the cost of the ma- 
 terial. In 1889 there were three classes; there are 
 now fifteen, with over a hundred women in attend- 
 ance. The numerical growth, however, is only a par- 
 tial indication of the work that has been done. There 
 has been an increasing sense of the right and the 
 
 99 
 
THE HELPING HAND 
 
 wrong way of doing things, a growth in appreciation, 
 a growth in uplift and also spirituality. 
 
 In connection with the growth of the work of the 
 Helping Hand must be mentioned the Creche. 
 
 When the Helping Hand became a large society, 
 it was found necessary to make provision for the 
 little children, too young to be left at home, who 
 came with their mothers and seriously interfered with 
 order in the meetings. In the winter of 1895-6, Miss 
 Pauline Humphrey, Miss Katherine Ludington and 
 Miss Helen Ludington began entertaining the chil- 
 dren in the back room at the old Mission, and, when 
 possible, taught them kindergarten games and songs. 
 Miss Pratt, who has been so faithful to the work, 
 joined it soon after it started. After three years, 
 some of the original workers dropped out, others 
 took their places and the Creche has continued and 
 flourished. The attendance varies according to 
 weather, but there have often been as many as sixty 
 children, the majority mere babies, to be entertained 
 and handed back safely to their mothers at the end 
 of the afternoon. 
 
 The Helping Hand is at present organized as 
 follows : 
 
 Miss Alletta Lent . 
 Mrs. Henry L. Stimson . 
 Miss E. L. Haines . . . 
 Miss M. A. Walker . . 
 Miss Candace C. Stimson 
 
 100 
 
 First Directress 
 Second Directress 
 Third Directress 
 Secretary 
 Treasurer 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 Honorary Advisory Committee : 
 Mrs. C. H. Parkhurst Miss Gertrude Gillet 
 
 Purchasing Committee : 
 Mrs. W. H. Barbour Mrs. G. M. Decker 
 
 Cutting Committee : 
 Mrs. G. M. Decker Mrs. F. H. Sladk 
 
 Mrs. W. H. Barbour Miss Heroy 
 
 Mrs. G. B. EwiNG 
 
 Creche Committee : 
 Miss Alice Pratt 
 
 lOI 
 
1 
 
 The FCindergarten 
 
 ^ I "\HE history of our kindergarten work is brief 
 and uneventful, but most successful. The 
 first work done by our church in this depart- 
 ment was in 1890. In the report rendered in 1893, 
 the following-named persons are recorded as mem- 
 bers of the committee in charge : 
 
 Mrs. Walter L. Hervey, Chairman 
 Mrs. Arthur C. James Mrs. H. B. Platt 
 
 Mrs. Charles E. Lawton Mrs. Louis L. Stanton 
 Miss Jennie Underwood 
 
 The statement submitted in 1895 by Miss Eliza- 
 beth G. Parsons, the kindergartner, shows an attend- 
 ance upon the classes of forty children. 
 
 The work was re-organized in 1896, under the 
 chairmanship of Miss Mabel Slade, with Miss Flor- 
 ence E. Boyden as teacher. Miss Boyden has con- 
 tinued in this position till a year ago, when leave of 
 absence was granted her for one year, her place being 
 in the meantime supplied by her assistant, Miss 
 Clara G. Long. The work throughout has been an 
 interesting and beautiful one. 
 
 Miss Slade .... Chairman 
 Miss Alice J. Smith Secretary 
 
 Mrs. Benj. Griffen Mrs. William M. Kingsley 
 
 Mrs. Arthur C. James Mrs. Graham Lusk 
 
 KINDERGARTEN COMMITTEE 
 (Report of 1905-6) 
 103 
 
The Boys' Club 
 
 UNTIL a very recent date the work carried on 
 at the Church House in the interest of the 
 boys has been mostly of an experimental 
 character. For a number of years semi-organized 
 efforts have been made to do something for the 
 domestication of this rather incorrigible element of 
 our East Side population, and several of the young 
 men from the Madison Square Church have put into 
 the work an incalculable amount of time, work and 
 patience. The need was felt of having a competent 
 paid manager steadily in charge, and we did not for a 
 considerable time see our way clear to ask for an 
 appropriation sufficient for that purpose. Arrange- 
 ment was made in 1903 with Mr. Edgar A. Smith to 
 give us a part of his time. He was soon replaced by 
 Mr. W. W. Manee, but it was only with the definite 
 organization of the enterprise under Mr. H. H. 
 Wikel and an arrangement with him that secured to 
 the Church House his entire time that the boys' work 
 commenced to show vigor and to yield tangible results. 
 At the final meeting of the committee, in May of 
 1895, it developed that Mr. Wikel had received a 
 larger offer from the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. 
 His resignation was accordingly accepted, but with 
 great regret. In his place we have secured Mr. Alpheus 
 
 105 
 
THE BOYS CLUB 
 
 H. Favour, a graduate of Amherst in 1903 and of the 
 New York Law School in 1905, who brought with 
 him the highest recommendations from the Gordon 
 House, East Side House and the Chrystie Street 
 Settlement. He commenced work about the first of 
 September, and has already thoroughly established 
 himself in the confidence of the committee and in 
 the respect of the boys. 
 
 The work done for the boys, and with them, is laid 
 out along the lines of social clubs, gymnastic drill, 
 field athletics, orchestral training and carpentry, with 
 as much in the way of intellectual illumination and 
 moral and religious suggestion as the peculiar features 
 of the situation render feasible. 
 
 The present organization is as follows : 
 
 Arthur C. Ludington 
 c. c. curran . 
 Dr. Ellice M. Alger 
 Mrs. E. C. BoDMAN 
 Mrs. Seth Sprague Terry 
 Miss Helen Ludington 
 Dr. Matthew Beattie 
 Alpheus H. Favour 
 
 Chairman 
 Secretary 
 Treasurer 
 
 Dr. C. H. Parkhurst 
 
 Leeds Johnson 
 
 Ernest T. Carter 
 
 F. G. Crocker 
 Director-in- Charge 
 
 106 
 
Girls' Clubs 
 
 THE girls' work of the Madison Square Church 
 was started on November 21st, 1897, at 384 
 Third Avenue with a Bible Class, led by 
 Miss Amy Brown and Miss Caroline Delano. There 
 were seventeen girls present that first Sunday after- 
 noon. The class was continued throughout that win- 
 ter, but disbanded during the summer. The following 
 autumn the class was resumed, and on Tuesday even- 
 ing, November nth, 1898, a small room at 152 East 
 Twenty-seventh Street was opened for the use of its 
 members. A club was organized and later in the 
 winter another was formed composed of the younger 
 girls ; also classes in dress-making and millinery were 
 started. On January 30th, 1901, the Girls' Club Com- 
 mittee was organized with the following members : 
 
 Miss Ethel de Forest Miss Mabel Slade 
 
 Mrs. Graham Lusk Mrs. B, Clarkson 
 
 (then Miss Tiffany) (then Miss Helen Smith) 
 
 Miss Caroline Delano 
 
 The work has continued during all these years, 
 growing slowly but steadily. 
 
 In February, 1902, the first Girls' Club Directress 
 was engaged to oversee the work. 
 
 At the present time the work consists of a Young 
 Women's Gospel Meeting, three Bible classes, one 
 
 107 
 
GIRLS CLUBS 
 
 for teachers, taught by the Club Directress, one for 
 older girls, taught by Miss Slade, and one for girls 
 from twelve to fourteen years of age, taught by Miss 
 Gertrude H. Tifft. There are four organized clubs 
 and fifteen different classes in the following subjects, 
 — cooking, dressmaking, singing, gymnastics, sewing, 
 machine sewing, music, embroidery, elocution, milli- 
 nery and basketry. The total enrollment for all clubs 
 and classes on January ist, 1906, was 389. The 
 total attendance for December, 1905, was over 1,500. 
 The work is now under the direction of the following 
 committee : 
 
 Miss Caroline Delano Miss Mabel Slade 
 Miss Ethel Smith Miss Alice M. Kellogg 
 
 Miss Gertrude H. Tifft 
 
 108 
 
The Church House Library 
 
 THIS library was the gift to us of the Man- 
 hattan East Side Mission, formerly known 
 as the Bible and Fruit Mission. It was 
 upon the suspension of the work of the Mission that 
 the transference of the Library to us was made, and 
 that through the kind offices of Miss Laura Hoe. 
 
 Upon learning of the probable discontinuance of 
 that East Side work, and feeling that its proximity 
 to our own Third Avenue enterprise might m some 
 little degree create for us the character of a legatee 
 to whatever it had to bequeath. Dr. Parkhurst ap- 
 proached Miss Hoe, one of the interested trustees 
 of the Manhattan East Side Mission, with reference 
 to the library, and soon after received from her the 
 following letter : — 
 
 Dr. Parkhurst : 
 
 Dear Sir : Thinking over the library with all 
 the interest 1 have had in it for eight years, I resolved 
 after reading your letter received this morning to 
 propose to the Trustees that I should give two hun- 
 dred dollars for the library to be sent to you for a 
 Free Circulating Library. The motion was unani- 
 mously adopted. I did not mean to forestall any 
 action on your part, but my proposition was handed 
 in first. I should like to meet you or your repre- 
 sentative at an early date at the library. Some of 
 the furniture and equipments are my personal prop- 
 
 109 
 
THE CHURCH HOUSE LIBRARY 
 
 erty, and I shall need to confer with you concerning 
 them. As the library is now closed and no one is 
 in charge of the books, in my opinion the sooner 
 they are removed the better it will be. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 AM ^, , Laura Hoe. 
 
 April loth, 99. 
 
 This exceedingly kind act on the part of Miss Hoe 
 and her associates was appreciatively acknowledged 
 and the books at once removed to the Adams Mem- 
 orial Church, where they were stored for two years 
 or until opportunity for their use was afforded by the 
 completion of our Church House and the opening 
 there of an ample library and reading room. 
 
 The library, since its installation in its present 
 quarters, has been under the care of a special com- 
 mittee, of which the following-named persons have, 
 for the whole or a part of the time, been members : — 
 Messrs. George E. Marcus, B. deF. Curtiss, Ernest 
 T. Carter, Henry V. A. Parsell, Marcellus Hartley 
 Dodge and Dr. Parkhurst ; also Mrs. S. M. Hall, 
 Miss Lucy H. Humphrey and Miss Katharine Lud- 
 ington. Upon the first organization of the com- 
 mittee Mr. Marcus was made president, and Mrs. 
 Hall secretary and treasurer. Mr. Marcus soon 
 resigned and Dr. Parkhurst was elected to fill the 
 vacancy until December, 1905, when he was succeeded 
 by Mr. Curtiss, present chairman. 
 
 1 10 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 The library has been particularly fortunate in its 
 librarians, all of whom have not only discharged 
 wisely and faithfully the duties of their office, but 
 have also entered fully into sympathy with the gen- 
 eral Christian purpose of the House. The first of 
 our librarians was Miss Joanna Burnet, who com- 
 menced service with us in June, 1901. Upon her 
 resignation in June, 1903, she was succeeded by Miss 
 Harriette Austin, who two years later was followed 
 by Miss M. E. Leman. 
 
 The library donated to us was an admirably selected 
 one and contained about 4,000 volumes. The circu- 
 lation last year was 10,962, and the attendance in the 
 reading room 5,379. Constant additions have been 
 made to our collection throug-h the kindness of 
 friends, and monthly loans of something like a hun- 
 dred and fifty volumes have been made by the Trav- 
 eling Department of the New York Public Library, 
 adding materially to the effectiveness of our work. 
 
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