The Lutherans of New York, Their Story and Their Problems

by George Unangst Wenner

THEIR STORY

In the Seventeenth Century 1648-1700

Under the administration of the Dutch West India Company the Reformed Church was established in New Amsterdam in 1628. The policy of the Company was to maintain the Reformed religion to the exclusion of all other churches. But the cosmopolitan character of the future metropolis was evident even in its earliest history. In 1643 the Jesuit missionary Jogues reports that besides the Calvinists, Lutherans and Anabaptists were to be found in the colony. In 1644 eighteen languages were spoken by its inhabitants.

In 1648 the Lutheran community in the New Netherlands appealed to the Consistory of Amsterdam for a minister, but nothing was done for them. In 1653 the request was renewed. When the Reformed ministers heard of it, they strenuously objected to the admission of a Lutheran minister; they said this would open the door for all manner of sects and would disturb the province in the enjoyment of its religion. Their attitude was supported by Governor Stuyvesant, who indeed went to great lengths in the enforcement of these views? [sic] Even the reading services, which the Lutherans held among themselves in anticipation of the coming of a minister, were forbidden, and fines and imprisonment were inflicted upon those who disobeyed.

Candor compels us to admit that this was the spirit of the age. The Thirty Years' War was going on at this time, and in a time of war ruthless methods are the vogue.

In 1657, to the joy of the Lutherans and the consternation of the Reformed, Joannes Ernestus Gutwasser (or Goetwater, as his name is often printed) arrived from Amsterdam to minister to the waiting congregation. But Governor Stuyvesant had no use for a Lutheran minister and Gutwasser was ordered to return forthwith to the place from which he had come. However, he succeeded in delaying his departure for nearly two years.

The congregation, unmindful of Stuyvesant's fulminations against all who taught contrary to the Acts of the Synod of Dort, secured as their minister in 1662 a student by the name of Abelius Zetskoorn, whom the authorities soon transported to a charge on the Delaware, without the violence, however, shown in the case of Gutwasser.

In 1664 the island was captured by the English and the Lutherans succeeded in obtaining a charter with permission to call a minister and conduct services in accordance with the teachings of the Augsburg Confession. But prior to 1664 or even 1648 there were individual Lutherans here, "their charter of salvation one Lord, one faith, one birth." In spite of persecution, even to imprisonment, they sang "The Lord's song in a strange land," and in simplicity of faith sowed the seed from which future harvests were to spring.

[illustration: "When New York Was Young">[

The little trading station at the mouth of the North River now numbered about 1,500 people. The church of "The Augustane Confession" was still without a pastor. For a generation they had striven under great difficulties to maintain their Lutheran faith. They were plain, simple people, but they had refused to be cajoled or driven to a denial of their convictions. Over against Stuyvesant, the most dominant personality of the new world, they waited patiently for the time when they might have their own pastor and might worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences.

At last, in 1669, they obtained a minister in the person of Magister Jacobus Fabritius who served the congregation in New York and also one in Albany. The new pastor sorely tried the patience of a longsuffering people. In church he manifested a dictatorial and irascible temper. At home he was constantly quarreling with his wife. These eccentricities interfered somewhat with his usefulness as a pastor. With increasing difficulty he administered his office until 1671 when he accepted a call to congregations on the Delaware. Here he seems to have repented of his ways, for he left an honorable record as a devoted pastor, and the historian is glad to forget the infelicities of his career on the North River.

His successor was Bernhardus Arensius, who came with a letter of recommendation from the Consistory of Amsterdam. He is described as "a gentle personage and of a very agreeable behavior."

Those were troublous times in which he conducted his ministry. The war between the Dutch and the English caused a repeated change of government, but for twenty years he quietly and successfully carried on his pastoral work in New York and in Albany. He died in 1691 and the Lutheran flock was again without a shepherd. For the rest of the century appeals to Amsterdam for a pastor were all in vain.

[illustrations: "A Corner of Broad Street" and "New Amsterdam in 1640">[

In the Eighteenth Century 1701-1750

At the beginning of the eighteenth century the population of Manhattan Island had increased to 5,000 souls, chiefly Dutch and English. These figures include about 800 negro slaves. The slave trade and piracy were at this time perfectly legitimate lines of business.

For ten years the Lutherans had been without a minister. In 1701 they invited Andrew Rudmann to become their pastor. He had been sent by the Archbishop of Upsala as a missionary to the Swedish settlements on the Delaware. Rudmann accepted the call, but after a severe illness, as the climate did not agree with him, he returned to Pennsylvania, where in 1703 he ordained Justus Falckner to be his successor in New York.

Falckner was a graduate of Halle. It was a kind Providence that made him pastor of the Lutherans in New York at this time. Events had happened and were still happening in Europe that were destined to make history in America.

Germany, paralyzed by the results of the Thirty Years' War, and hopelessly divided into a multitude of political fragments, had become the helpless prey of the spoiler. The valley of the Rhine was ravaged from Heidelberg to the Black Forest. To this day, after more than two centuries, the ruins may still be traced. Upon the accession of the Catholic House of Neuburg to the throne of the Palatinate the Protestants were subjected to intolerable persecution. Their churches and schools were taken from them. Frequent raids were made upon the helpless border lands by the armies of Louis the Fourteenth. In a time of peace the Lutheran house of worship in Strassburg was wrested from its owners and transformed into a Catholic cathedral.

This devastation of the Rhine Valley caused an extensive emigration by way of London to New York. In the winter of 1708 Pastor Kocherthal arrived with the first company of Palatine exiles. In succeeding years many others followed, most of them settling on the upper Hudson and in the Mohawk Valley, but some of them remaining in New York.

The inhuman treatment which they received during the voyage, followed by hunger and disease, decimated their ranks. Of the 3,086 persons who set sail from London only 2,227 reached New York. Here they were not permitted to land, but were detained in tents on Governor's Island, where 250 more died soon after their arrival.

One of the men thus detained was destined to take a prominent place in the subsequent history of his countrymen, Johann Conrad Weiser. His descendants down to our own day have been filling high places in the history of their country as ministers, teachers, soldiers and statesmen. His great-grandson was the Speaker of the first House of Representatives of the United States. Another great-grandson, General Peter Muehlenberg, was for a time an assistant minister in Zion Church at New Germantown, N. J. He accepted a call to Woodstock, Virginia, where at the outbreak of the Revolution he startled his congregation one Sunday by declaring that the time to preach was past and the time to fight had come. Throwing off his ministerial robe and standing before them in the uniform of an American officer, he appealed to them to follow him in the defence of the liberties of his country. He became a distinguished officer in the army and subsequently rendered good service in the civil administration of the new republic.

[illustration: "In the Eighteenth Century">[

A later descendant was Dr. William A. Muhlenberg, born in Philadelphia,
September 16th, 1796, the venerated founder of St. Luke's Hospital in
this city.*
*Dr. Muhlenberg was the rector of the Protestant Episcopal Church
of the Holy Communion. He was one of the best beloved ministers in New
York. He died in 1877. I visited him during his last illness in St.
Luke's Hospital. As I took my leave he threw his arms about me and
assured me that he had always been a Lutheran. He evidently conceived of
Lutheranism in broader terms than merely denominational distinctions.

Among the Palatine immigrants stranded on Governor's Island, unable to follow their sturdier companions to the upper part of the Hudson Valley, were widows, elderly men and 80 orphans. One of these orphans was Peter Zenger, who was apprenticed to William Bradford, at that time the only printer in the colony. When he grew up, he became the editor of The Weekly Journal, which made its first appearance on November 5th, 1733. Washington at this time was not yet two years old. Zenger was one of the earliest champions of American liberty. His arrest and imprisonment, his heroic defence and final acquittal, are among the milestones of American history and are a contribution to the story of New York of which Americans of German descent may well be proud.

It was a large parish to which Falckner ministered. There were no Home Mission Boards in those days. The New York pastor had therefore to care for many outlying stations. His diocese included Hackensack, Raritan, Ramapo and Constable Hook in the south, and Albany, Loonenburg and West Camp in the north. After the death of Kocherthal he visited regularly, not only the Dutch congregations of Claverack, Coxackie and Kinderhook, but also such German settlements as East Camp, Rhinebeck, and Schoharie.

New York itself was not neglected during these missionary journeys. Readers (Vorleezers) conducted the service while he was away. Such notices as "There will be no church today, the minister is out of town," did not appear on his bulletin board.

The care of a parish 150 miles in length left but little time for literary work, but in order that his people might be informed on the subject of their church's faith as distinguished from that of their Calvinistic neighbors, he wrote a book on the essential doctrines of the Lutheran confession. It was published by William Bradford, New York, 1708.

He also wrote a hymn: "Auf, ihr Christen, Christi Glieder," which after two centuries holds a place in German hymnals, and the translation is to be found in some of the best collections of the English language. To this day, therefore, the churches of London and Berlin alike respond to Falckner's rallying call: "Rise, ye children of salvation."

[illustration: "Trinity Church, Broadway and Rector Street, (Southwest Corner)">[

He must have been a pious man and a winning personality. The entries in the book recording baptisms and other ministerial acts abound in accompanying prayers for the spiritual welfare of those to whom he had ministered.

For twenty years he served the churches of New York and the Hudson Valley. When and where he died we know not. Early in 1723 he was in New York and in Hackensack. In September of the same year there is a record of a baptism at Phillipsburg (near Yonkers). And then no more. "He was not, for God took him."

Falckner's successor, Berkenmeyer, a native of Lueneburg, arrived in 1725. He brought with him books for a church library and also funds for a new building, contributed by friends in Germany, Denmark, and London. The "old cattle shed" on the southwest corner of Broadway and Rector Street was torn down and a stone building erected which was dedicated in 1729 and named Trinity church.

The parish which Berkenmeyer inherited from Falckner, extending from New York to Albany, and including many Dutch and German settlements on both sides of the river, proved to be a larger field than he could cultivate. He therefore sent to Germany for another minister, and resigning at New York, took charge of the northern and more promising part of the field, making his home at Loonenburg (Athens), on the Hudson. For nineteen years he labored in this field. He died in 1751.

Berkenmeyer was a scholarly man, a faithful minister, and an impressive personality. He belonged to a different school from that of his great contemporary, Muehlenberg, and the rest of the Halle missionaries, and his correspondence with them frequently savored of theological controversy.

His successor in New York was Knoll, a native of Holstein, who spent eighteen years of faithful work in Trinity church under trying circumstances. He had to preach in Dutch to a congregation that had become prevailingly German. There was a growing dissatisfaction among the people. During the first half of the century Dutch influence gradually declined and German grew stronger. The ministers were all of them German, although they preached chiefly in Dutch, with occasional ministrations in German. At last the Germans, feeling the need of ampler service in their own language, took advantage in 1750 of the presence of a peripatetic preacher and instituted the first "split" in the Lutheran church of this city by organizing Christ Church. Knoll resigned soon after and removed to Loonenburg, where he again became the successor of Berkenmeyer.

[illustration: "Henry Melchior Muehlenberg (Otto Schweizer's Heroic Stone Figure)">[

In the Eighteenth Century 1751-1800

The resignation of Knoll and the difficulties of the mother congregation were the occasion of calling to New York the most distinguished minister the American Church has ever had.

Henry Melchior Muehlenberg came to America from Halle in 1742 to minister to the congregations in and near Philadelphia. The disordered condition of the American churches opened a wide field for his administrative ability, and for the rest of his life, in addition to his pastoral activity, he accomplished a great task in the planting and organization of churches. He is rightly called the Patriarch of the Lutheran Church in America.

In response to an urgent appeal, Muehlenberg came over from Pennsylvania in 1751 and assumed the pastorate of Trinity church. Although he spent but a short time in 1751 and again in 1752 on the ground, he was for two years pastor of the mother church. His was a fruitful ministry. He succeeded to a considerable extent in reconciling the warring elements in the congregation, not only by his gifts as a preacher and spiritual leader, but also by his ability to preach in Dutch and in English as well as in German.

The Episcopalians, who worshipped in the Trinity Church on the opposite corner, complained of the stentorian tones in which he delivered his sermons.

Upon Muehlenberg's recommendation, Mr. Weygand of Raritan, was chosen pastor of Trinity Church in 1753. In the furtherance of his ministry, Weygand performed some literary work. He prepared an English translation of the Augsburg Confession, which was printed as a supplement to a quarto volume of 414 pages published by one of the elders of his church, entitled "The Articles of Faith of the Holy Evangelical Church According to the Word of God and the Augsburg Confession. A Translation from the Danish. New York, MDCCLIV."

The congregation continued to be Dutch, although Weygand preached also in German and in English as occasion required. For the use of his English congregations he published in 1756 a translation of German hymns that had appeared in England under the title, "Psalmodia Germanica."

From 1750 to the time of the American Revolution we had two Lutheran
churches in New York, the German Christ church, popularly known as "The
Old Swamp Church," on Frankfort Street, and the Dutch Trinity church on
Broadway and Rector Street.

In the Swamp church the first preacher, Ries, remained for a year. He was followed in quick succession by Rapp, Wiessner, Schaeffer, Kurz, Bager and Gerock. Only the last named served long enough to identify himself with local history. He was followed by Frederick Muehlenberg, a son of Henry Melchior, an ardent patriot, who had expressed himself so freely in regard to English rule that when the British army marched into New York in 1776 he found it expedient to retire as quickly as possible to Pennsylvania. Here he labored in several congregations; as supply or as pastor, until 1779, when the exigencies of the times compelled him to take an active part in the political affairs of the country.

[illustration: "The Old Swamp Church">[

The partial reconciliation that had been brought about by Muehlenberg between the Dutch and the German congregations was occasionally disturbed by a pamphletary warfare conducted by their respective pastors, Weygand and Gerock.

Weygand died in 1770. He was succeeded by Hausihl (or Houseal, as he spelled his name in later years), a native of Heilbronn, who had served congregations in Maryland and in eastern Pennsylvania. Tradition reports that he was a brilliant preacher of distinguished appearance and of courtly manners. He succeeded in maintaining a large congregation.

But a serious change was going on in the church in the matter of language. In spite of the secession in 1750 other Germans kept coming into the Broadway church to such an extent that they outnumbered the Dutch eight to one, and finally the use of the Dutch language in the Lutheran Church of New York came to an end. Houseal had the distinction of conducting the obsequies at the preparatory service on Saturday, November 30, 1771, and at the administration of the Lord's Supper on the following day.

But the death of the Dutch language by no means put an end to the language difficulties of our Lutheran ancestors. In the midst of the original contestants a new set of combatants had sprung up in the persons of the children of both parties. These spoke neither Dutch nor German. They understood English only and demanded larger consideration of their needs.

Events, however, were impending which soon gave the people something else to think about and caused a postponement of actual hostilities for another generation.

The church on Broadway was destroyed by fire in 1776, and was never rebuilt. The congregation worshipped for a time in the Scotch Presbyterian Church on Cedar Street.

The American Revolution broke out. On political questions our ancestors differed almost as widely as do their successors on synodical questions. Some of them were for George the Third, others were for George Washington. In this respect, however, they were not unlike other inhabitants of New York.

Frederick Muehlenberg, the pastor of the Swamp Church, was an ardent patriot. At the beginning of the war, as we have seen, he fled to Pennsylvania.

During the war the services were conducted by the chaplains of the Hessian troops. The Hessians were good church-goers and also generous contributors, so that the financial condition of the congregation at this time was greatly improved.

Houseal, the pastor of Trinity Church, was a tory, and when in 1783 the
American troops marched into New York, he with a goodly number of his
adherents removed to Nova Scotia and founded a Lutheran church in
Halifax.

Both churches were now without pastors. Tribulation must have softened the spirits of the two contending congregations, for when Dr. Johann Christoph Kunze came to this city from Philadelphia in 1784, he became pastor of the reunited congregations, worshipping in the Swamp Church.

[illustration: "Frederick Augustus Conrad Muehlenberg; Pastor of the Old Swamp Church; subsequently member of the Continental Congress; Speaker of the Assembly of Pennsylvania; President of the Convention which in 1787 ratified the Constitution of the United States; Speaker of the first Congress of the United States of America.">[

Before closing this chapter and taking up the account of Kunze's pastorate, let us follow the steps of Frederick Muehlenberg, the former pastor of the Swamp Church. We recall his unceremonious flight from New York. We cannot blame him. The British had threatened to hang him if they caught him.

We remember too that in Pennsylvania he was called upon to take an active part in political affairs. He was a member of the Continental Congress, also a member of the legislature of Pennsylvania and Speaker of the Assembly. He was President of the Convention which ratified the Constitution of the United States.

Thirteen years have passed since he left New York. It is A. D. 1789. New York was just beginning to recover from the disastrous years of the Revolution during which the British troops occupied the city. The population had sunk from 20,000 to 10,000 in 1783, but by this time had risen again to 30,000. The people were getting ready to celebrate the greatest event in the history of the city, the inauguration of the first President of the American Republic. Preparations were made to honor the occasion with all possible ceremony. Great men had gathered from all parts of the country. But to the older members of the Swamp Church there was doubtless no one, not even Washington himself, who stood higher in their esteem and affection than the representative from Pennsylvania, the Reverend Frederick Muehlenberg. And when a few days later the erstwhile German pastor of the Swamp Church was elected Speaker of the first House of Representatives of the United States of America, none knew better than they that it was only a fitting tribute to the character and abilities of their former pastor.

Kunze's is one of the great names on the roll of our ministers. He was a scholar, a teacher, a writer, and an administrator of distinction. Trained in the best schools of Germany, when he arrived in America in 1770, he at once took high rank among his colleagues in Philadelphia. Besides his work as a minister he filled the chair of Oriental and German languages in the University of Pennsylvania.

In 1784 he accepted a call to New York. He did this partly in the hope of establishing a Lutheran professorship in Columbia College. He accepted a call to the chair of Oriental languages in Columbia. He was also a regent of the university.

Kunze was not only an able man, he was also a man of deep piety, a qualification not altogether undesirable in a shepherd of souls. His writings indicate that in his preaching and catechization he strove not to beat the air but to win souls to a personal experience of salvation.

While it is doubtful whether he would find admission to some of the most orthodox synods of our own day; he was comparatively free from the latitudinarian tendencies which had been brought over from Germany during the last quarter of the century.

Along with General Steuben and other influential citizens he founded, the German Society, an association which is still an important agency in the charitable work of this city.

[illustration: "John Christopher Kunze">[

He was instrumental in 1785 in reorganizing the New York Ministerium. This work was begun in 1775 by Frederick Muehlenberg, but had been given up for a while, probably on account of the war.

As a writer he is credited in Dr. Morris' Bibliotheca Lutherana with eight books of which he was the author or editor, from Hymns and Poems to A History of the Lutheran Church and A New Method of Calculating the Great Eclipse of 1806.

These and many other things must be set to his credit. For what he accomplished he deserves a large place in the history of our Church in this city. But with all his gifts he was unable to cope with the chief problem which confronted our Church at the close of the eighteenth century, that of the English language.

There had been a demand for English services ever since the middle of the century. The descendants of the Dutch families had all become English. The need of English had been met in part by the elder Muehlenberg and his successors, Weygand and Hauseal, in Trinity Church, doubtless also by Frederick Muehlenberg in the Swamp Church.

After the, Revolution (1784) the United Congregations certainly made some provision for English although it was inadequate. In 1794 the younger people petitioned for occasional services in a language which they could understand. Dr. Kunze himself made some attempts to handle the English, but his faulty pronunciation so amused the young people that he gave it up. He appointed a young man by the name of Strebeck to assist him in ministering to the English members of the congregation. Strebeck at this time was a Methodist, although he had been confirmed in a Lutheran Church in Baltimore. Under Kunze's influence he again joined the Lutherans.

"A Hymn and Prayer Book for the use of such Lutheran Churches as use the English language," published by Kunze in 1795, and another by Streback [sic] in 1797, show that serious efforts were made to meet the wants of the English-speaking members.

Finally, on June 25th, 1797, a separate congregation was organized entitled The English Lutheran Church in the City of New York. (This was the corporate name, although it was subsequently known as Zion Church.) Strebeck was chosen pastor. Land was rented on Pearl Street opposite City Hall Place and a frame church was built.

The incorporation of the church was reported to the Ministerium which met at Rhinebeck. The following reply was given under date of September 1st, 1797:

"Upon reading a letter from New York signed by Henry Heiser, Lucas Van
Buskirk and L. Hartman, representing that they have erected an English
Lutheran Church, on account of the inability of their children to
understand the German language:

RESOLVED, That it is never the practice in an Evangelical Consistory to sanction any kind of schism; that if the persons who signed the letter wish to continue their children in the Lutheran Church connection in New York, they earnestly recommend them the use of the German School, and in case there is no probability of any success in this particular, they herewith declare that they do not look upon persons who are not yet communicants of a Lutheran Church as apostates in case they join an English Episcopal Church.

RESOLVED, 2d, That on account of an intimate connection subsisting between the English Episcopal Church and the Lutheran Church and the identity of their doctrine and near alliance of their Church discipline, this Consistory will never acknowledge a new erected Lutheran Church merely English, in places where the members may partake of the Services of the said Episcopal Church."

From the viewpoint of the ministers in 1797, Lutheranism seems to have been a matter of language rather than of religion. It was something to be retained among German-speaking people, but could not be effectively transmitted except through the medium of the German language.

We have come to the last decade of the 18th century. In the political world great men were finding themselves and mighty principles were finding expression in the organization of what was destined to become one of the great states of the world. Some of our own men were taking a large part in the making of American history. In the church they were content with a more restricted outlook. Our people, it is true, were of humble origin, yet some of them had attained wealth and social standing. The Van Buskirks, the Grims, the Beekmans, the Wilmerdings and the Lorillards were men of affairs and influence in the growing town of 30,000 that had begun to extend northward as far as Canal Street and even beyond. But we look in vain for any positive contribution to the life of the embryo metropolis of the world.

Our church had lost its roots. The Rhinebeck Resolution indicates the feeble appreciation of the distinctive confession to which she owed her existence. The English hymn books and liturgies of this period are equally destitute of any positive confessional character.

But after all, the church in New York only reflected in a small way the conditions that existed on the other side of the Atlantic. In the Fatherland the national life had been declining ever since the Thirty Years' War. In 1806 Germany reached the nadir of her political life at the battle of Jena. In the church this was the period of her Babylonian Captivity. Alien currents of philosophical and theological thought had devitalized the teaching of the Gospel. The old hymns had been replaced by pious reflections on subjects of religion and morality. The Lutheran Liturgy had disappeared leaf by leaf until little but the cover remained. With such conditions in the homeland what could be expected of an isolated church on Manhattan Island? Take it all in all, it is not surprising that only two congregations survived. It is a wonder that there were two.

In "Old New York" Dr. Francis presents a vivid picture of the social and religious life of this period and from it we learn that the Lutherans were not the only ones whose religion sat rather lightly upon them. French infidelity had taken deep root in the community and Paine's Age of Reason found enthusiastic admirers.

Fifty years ago I was browsing one afternoon over the books in the library of Union Theological Seminary, at that time located in University Place. I was all alone until Dr. Samuel Hanson Cox, the father of Bishop Arthur Cleveland Coxe, came in. He was then in his eighties, but vigorous in mind and body. We easily became acquainted and I was an eager listener to the story of his early ministry in New York, which fell about the time of which we are speaking. From him I got a picture of life in New York closely corresponding with that which is given in Dr. Francis' interesting story. There were leaders of the church in those days who were not free from the vice of drunkenness. Evangelical religion in all denominations had a severe conflict in doctrine and in morals with the ultra liberal tendencies of the time.

A marked defect of our church life was the inadequate supply of men for the ministry. For 140 years New York Lutherans had been dependent upon Europe for their pastors. For 60 years more this dependence was destined to continue.

Kunze had long been desirous of providing facilities for theological education in this country. Under the bequest of John Christopher Hartwig, he organized in 1797 a Theological Seminary. The theological department was conducted in New York by himself, the collegiate department in Albany and the preparatory department in Otsego County.

One of his students was Strebeck. Another, Van Buskirk, a promising young man, died before he could enter the work. The Mayer brothers, natives of New York, became eminent pastors of English Lutheran churches, Philip in Albany and Frederick in Philadelphia. It was a trying time in which Kunze lived, but he planted seed which still bears fruit.

One event of the eighteenth century seems worthy of spcial [sic] mention, even when seen through the vista of a hundred and fifty years, although at the time it may have attracted little attention. Because of the side light which it throws upon history we permit it to interrupt for a moment the course of our story.

It harks back to the refugees from the Palatinate who emigrated to the west coast of Ireland at the same time that their fellow countrymen under Kocherthal came to New York. Their principal settlements were at Court-Matrix, Ballingran and other places in County Limerick near the banks of the river Shannon. As they had no minister and understood little or no English, in the course of forty years they lost whatever religion they had brought with them from Germany. It came to pass that John Wesley visited these villages. He found the people "eminent for drunkenness, cursing, swearing, and an utter neglect of religion." (Wesley's Journal, II, p. 429.)

Wesley's sermons reminded them of the sermons they used to hear in their far-off German home, and a remarkable revival occurred among them. Subsequently numbers of them followed their countrymen of the preceding generation to New York and some of them joined the Lutheran Church. Among the names to be found on the records of our church are those of Barbara Heck and Philip Embury.

Now some of our ministers, as far back as Falckner in the beginning of the century, belonged to the Halle or Francke school of Lutheranism, and the spirit of our church life at this time, as may be seen from the letters of Muehlenberg in the "Hallesche Nachrichten," was not alien to that which the Palatines had imbibed from John Wesley, himself a product of the Pietistic movement of which Halle was the fountain head. One would suppose that these Palatine immigrants from the west of Ireland might have found a congenial home in the Lutheran Church and contributed to the spiritual life of the congregation. But for some reason they did not. They withdrew from us and helped to organize in 1766 the first Methodist Society in America.

The Methodists of America number seven million communicants. Barbara Heck, Philip Embury and other Palatine immigrants were our contribution to their incipient church life in America.

In the Nineteenth Century 1801-1838

The history of our churches in the nineteenth century may be divided into three periods. The first extends from 1801 to 1838.

At the beginning of the century there were two congregations, the
German-English Church on Frankfort Street and the English (Zion) on
Pearl Street.

In 1802 two hundred members of the German church who had not united with Zion in 1797 asked for a separate English church. The request was declined, but regular services in English were held in the afternoon with promises of a new church as soon as possible.

In 1804 Strebeck, the pastor of Zion, joined the Episcopalians and subsequently became rector of St. Stephen's Church. Here he was followed in the course of years by a constant procession of his former parishioners. It will be recalled that Zion had not been received into connection with the Ministerium.

In 1805 Ralph Williston was chosen pastor. In 1810 he also became an Episcopalian. Not long after, the entire congregation followed him into the Episcopal fold. The resolution effecting the change read as follows:

"Whereas, many difficulties attend the upholding of the Lutheran religion among us, and whereas, that inasmuch as the doctrine and government of the Episcopal Church is so nearly allied to the Lutheran, and also on account of the present embarrassment of the finances of this church, therefore

"RESOLVED, That the English Lutheran Church with its present form of worship and government be dissolved after Tuesday, the 13th day of March next, and that this Church do from that day forward become a parish of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and the present board of officers of this church take every measure to carry this resolve into effect."* *On West Fifty-seventh Street, a few steps from Carnegie Hall, the visitor interested fn Lutheran antiquities may find the stately Episcopal Church of Zion and St. Timothy. It has a membership of 1,300. Its communion vessels still bear the inscription: ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH.

Kunze died in 1807. His successor, Frederick William Geissenhainer of New Hanover, Pa., took charge in 1808 and remained till 1814 when the state of his health compelled him to return to Pennsylvania.

He was succeeded by Frederick Christian Schaeffer of Harrisburg, a gifted man who preached equally well in German and in English. On the tercentenary of the Reformation in 1817 he preached a Reformation sermon in St. Paul's Episcopal Church on Broadway, which attracted widespread attention. A copy is preserved in the New York Public Library.

[illustration: "Fragment of Kunze's Gravestone discovered by the author in 1907, in Greenwich Village, where some laborers were digging the foundation for a new building. Kunze's ashed repose in the Lorillard vault of the churchyard of St. Mark's in the Bowery, Tenth Street and Second Avenue.">[

After twenty years the promise of a separate English church was fulfilled, when in 1822 a large and beautiful structure was erected in Walker Street, just east of Broadway, and placed at the disposal of the English portion of the congregation. It was called St. Matthew's Church. Schaeffer was assigned to the pastorate and Geissenhainer was recalled from Pennsylvania to take charge of the German part of the congregation. New trouble soon developed. The English congregation demanded representation in the Church Council. This the mother church declined to concede, although it is claimed they had agreed to do so when the English congregation was formed. The new congregation was unable to maintain itself, and in 1826 the church was sold for a debt of $14,000, and Pastor Schaeffer resigned. The Walker Street building was bought by Daniel Birdsall who resold it to the mother church. The legal questions at issue in the transaction were taken into court and decided in favor of the mother church.

A son of the pastor, Frederick William Geissenhainer, Jr., was called from Pennsylvania to minister in St. Matthew's Church in English, so long as this could be done without detriment to the German congregation. This continued for three years, by which time a deficit of $5,000 had accumulated.

In the meantime the congregation of Frankfort Street had grown to such an extent that it decided to sell the Old Swamp Church, and move into the spacious building on Walker Street, where it also acquired the name of the English congregation and was thereafter known as St. Matthew's Church. The younger Geissenhainer continued to hold English services in the afternoon until 1840. The senior Geissenhainer served the German part of the congregation until his death in 1838.

After Pastor Schaeffer resigned in 1826 he collected the salvage of the English enterprises and organized a new English church, St. James, which he served until his death in 1831.

Among the major happenings in this period were the Burr-Hamilton duel, the launching of Fulton's steamboat, the introduction of Croton water, the opening of the Erie Canal, the writings of Washington Irving, and the organization of the American Bible Society and the American Tract Society.

Such things as social service, church extension or confessional questions had not yet begun to disturb the churches. Our people had all the time they wanted therefore for controversy on the undying question of the relative importance of the English and German languages. This, as we have seen, led to a lawsuit, the sale of a church and the permanent rupture of a historic congregation. We lost one English congregation, Zion, disbanded another, St. Matthew's, and sent away enough English members besides to constitute St. Stephen's Episcopal Church on Chrystie Street.

Such, in brief, is the story of the Lutherans of New York during the first third of the nineteenth century. In the Fatherland great events were taking place and history was making rapid strides. The war of liberation was decided by the battle of Leipzig and the defeat of Napoleon. But the hopes for social and political improvement were disappointed by reactionary movements and economic distress. A new emigration to "the land of unbounded possibilities" began. In 1821-22 it amounted to 531, in 1834-35 it was 25,997. Among the immigrants were many who in various capacities became empire builders in America. But in all that related to the Lutheran church New York at this time took a subordinate place. Philadelphia was the first city of the land. The construction of railroads and the opening of the Erie Canal carried the active and ambitious men far into the interior. The church life of New York still flowed in sluggish currents. After 190 years, from 1648, when the first appeal for a minister was sent to Amsterdam, to 1838, our enrollment consisted of two congregations, the German-English church of St. Matthew, and the English church of St. James.

In the Nineteenth Century 1839-1865

Immigration began to assume large proportions. It did not reach its climax until the following period, but it was sufficiently large to awaken attention. In 1839 21,028 immigrants arrived here from Germany; in 1865, at the close of the Civil War, 83,424. Most of these were bound for the interior, but many who had only stopped to rest a while in New York decided to make this their home.

The East Side became a little Germany and even on the West Side Germans began to appear in increasing numbers.

At the beginning of this period an event occurred, unnoticed at the time, which proved to be the beginning of a great movement, "a cloud out of the sea, as small as a man's hand." In 1839 a thousand exiles arrived from Germany under the leadership of Pastor Grabau. Most of them went to the interior, some to Buffalo, others, the wealthier members, to the neighborhood of Milwaukee. Ten or a dozen families remained in New York with a pastor named Maximilian Oertel. Their services were held in a hall at the corner of Houston Street and Avenue A. Doubtless none of their contemporaries ever dreamed that this insignificant congregation was related to one of the larger movements of church history.

Connecting links were two men whose names I have never seen associated with the story of the Lutherans of New York. One of them was Dr. Benjamin Kurtz of Hagerstown, the other was Frederick William III, King of Prussia. The king had imposed the Union upon the churches of Prussia and imprisoned the pastors who refused to conform. This was the king's part in the movement. Dr. Kurtz had visited Berlin in 1826 in the interest of his educational schemes and in one of his addresses he implanted the microbe of America in the mind of a man who subsequently became a leader of one band of these pilgrims to the promised land. This was Dr. Kurtz's share in the work. Both Kurtz and the king were unconscious instruments in the hands of Providence.

Dr. Kurtz was for a large part of the nineteenth century a distinguished leader in the General Synod. He contributed to the establishment of the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg and he was the founder of the Missionary Institute, now the Susquehanna University, at Selinsgrove. He died in 1865. His grave is in the campus of the University of which he was the founder.

But who were these immigrants and how did they come to be exiles? This is another story; but it has to be told, because in the providence of God it is connected with the history of the Lutherans in New York.

In the early years of the nineteenth century there occurred a remarkable religious awakening in Germany. This awakening had much to do with a revival of Lutheranism. It had been greatly strengthened at least by the publication of the Ninety-five Theses of Claus Harms in 1817, on the occasion of the tercentenary of the Reformation, and it in turn stimulated the Lutheran consciousness of multitudes who had been carried away by the rationalistic movement of the eighteenth century. The publication of the royal Liturgy in 1822 and the forcible measures of the king in ordering a union of the Lutheran and Reformed churches of the kingdom called forth the staunch opposition of the Lutherans. This ended in a widespread agitation which sent multitudes of families to a land where one of the chief fruits of the Lutheran Reformation, that of religious liberty, could be enjoyed.

The notable thing about the entrance of a few of these people into our New York life was that it injected new ideas into the stagnant mentality of the period. That the men who brought them were brusque and exclusive, was of small account. When Stohlmann, who had recently been called to St. Matthew's Church, visited Pastor Oertel in his attic room, his Lutheranism, with a sly allusion perhaps to the stairs, was promptly challenged by the remark: "You climbed up some other way."

Nor did it matter that on some points the new comers themselves were not agreed? The Prussians, later known as "Buffalonians," led by Grabau, had a hierarchical theory of the ministerial office. The Saxons, later known as "Missourians," led by Walther, had the congregational theory of church government. For a score of years a titanic conflict was waged between these two parties. It ended in a decisive victory for "Missouri." Today "Buffalo" numbers 49 congregations, "Missouri" 3,689.

The Houston Street party in 1839 held hierarchical views. Subsequently they adopted the congregational theory of the church and established in 1843 the first "Missouri" congregation in New York under Pastor Brohm. After several removals the congregation settled at Ninth Street and Avenue B, where it still maintains its place of worship.

The chief field of the "Missourians," as their name indicates, is in the West. And yet in Greater New York they number 51 churches and many more in the suburbs. They maintain numerous missions among special classes. At Bronxville they have a college. They alone of all Lutherans make a serious effort to conduct parochial schools. More than any other variety of Lutherans do they educate their promising young men for the ministry.

But, as has already been intimated, the chief significance of their entrance into New York history is that thenceforth Lutherans had to give an account of their Lutheranism. Whether you agreed with them or not, you had to take sides and give a reason for the hope that was in you. They brought about that "contiguity of conflicting opinions" which is a condition of all progress.

Ten years later a different class of German immigrants came to our city. The Revolution of 1848 had resulted unsuccessfully for the friends of political freedom, and many were compelled to take refuge in America. Some were professional men of ability and high standing, whose contribution to the intellectual life of our city was considerable. Others were only half educated, young men who had not completed their studies in the University, but, intoxicated with the new ideas, had thrown themselves with the enthusiasm of youth into the conflict for freedom. Here they were like men without a country, aliens from the Fatherland, and in America incapable of comprehending a state without a church and a church without a state.

Few of these found their way into the Lutheran churches of New York. They were the intellectuals of the German community and had outgrown the religion of their countrymen who still adhered to the old faith.

Our churches received but little support from this large and influential class. Many of them had long since renounced allegiance to Jesus, and in the free air of America looked upon churches as anachronisms and hearthstones of superstition. Their influence upon the common people and upon the social life of the German community was hostile to that of Christianity. The churches had to get along without them, or rather, in spite of them. There were notable exceptions. But as a rule the "Achtundvierziger" did not go to church.

Still, in spite of their unchurchly views, most of them were unable to shake off wholly the forms of their ancestral religion. There were too many remnants (superstites) of the old faith binding them to ancient customs. Independent ministers with no synodical relations, with or without certificate of ordination, or the endorsement of organized congregations, unmindful of the nisi vocatus clause in the Augsburg Confession, helped to maintain the forms of an inherited Christianity by performing such ministerial acts as were required by the people. At one time these free lances were quite numerous. At present no representatives survive in New York.

But there was another class of immigrants that came to us from the Fatherland. They, too, sought to escape from political and economical conditions that had rested like an incubus upon a divided country for centuries. But they brought with them a spirit of Christian aspiration and the ripe fruit of a traditional Christian culture which became a priceless contribution to our own church life. They were men and women from all corners of Germany, who had come under the inspiration of the religious awakening to which reference has already been made. They became leading workers in our congregations and Christian enterprises. We, whose privilege it was to minister to them, knew well that we were only reaping where others far away and long ago had sown.

The inability of the Lutheran Church to supply an adequate ministry for this vast immigrant population left the way open also for other Protestant churches to do mission work among the lapsed members of our communion.

A number of churches were established where services in the beginning were held in the German or Scandinavian languages. Through Sunday Schools and other agencies many Lutheran children were gathered into their congregations where they and their children are now useful and honored members of the church. A goodly number of eminent ministers in various non-Lutheran Protestant churches of this city are the children or grandchildren of Lutheran parents.

[illustration: "Carl F. E. Stohlmann, D.D.">[

With this general outlook over the period, let us take up the thread of our story.

On the death of the elder Geissenhainer in 1838, Karl Stohlmann, a native of Schaumburg Lippe, was called from Erie, Pennsylvania, to be his successor. For thirty years the pastor of the Walker Street Church was an important figure among the Lutherans of this city. The scope of this book will not permit an adequate account of his labors. He died on Sunday morning, May 3d, 1868, just as his congregation was entering a larger house of worship at the corner of Broome and Elizabeth Streets.

Dr. Geissenhainer, Jr., retired from the English work of St. Matthew's Church in 1840 and organized a German congregation, St. Paul's, on the west side, which he served as pastor until his death in 1879 in the 82d year of his age.

On the East Side, Trinity was organized in 1843, St. Mark's in 1847, St.
Peter's in 1862, Immanuel, in Yorkville, in 1863, and St. John's in
Harlem in 1864. On the West Side St. Luke's was established in 1850, St.
John's in 1855 and St. Paul's in Harlem in 1864. The first Swedish
congregation, Gustavus Adolphus, was organized in 1865.

Within the present limits of Brooklyn six German and one English churches were established during this period. On the territory of each of the other boroughs, Bronx, Queens and Richmond, two German churches came into being.

After the Revolution of 1848 in Germany, immigration to America increased by leaps and bounds, and within the time under review New York was referred to as the fourth German city in the world. But the Germans, as we have seen, did not all go to church. The existing churches, it is true, were well filled, but a large proportion of the population, torn from the stable environment of their homeland life, and transplanted into the new conditions of a crowded city, failed to respond to the claims of their ancestral religion.

In our church polity there was no adequate provision for the needs of such an immense and ever expanding population. Now and then a broadminded pastor would encourage the planting of a church in some needy field, but too often the establishment of a new mission was looked upon as an encroachment on the parochial rights of the older congregation. At this point in the congregational polity of our church the absence of a directing mind and a unifying force was sorely felt.

The condition of immigrants at the port of New York was for many years a public scandal. In 1847 the State of New York appointed Commissioners of Immigration. Under the Act of March 3, 1891, the Commissioner was appointed by the Federal Government.

Before this was done, the helpless immigrants were the prey of countless vampires, chiefly in the form of "runners," agents of boarding houses and transportation companies. These pirates of the land exacted a heavy toll from all foreigners who ventured to enter our city by way of the steerage.

[illustration: "Pastor Wilhelm H. Berkemeier">[

In 1864 Robert Neumann, who had been a co-laborer with Gutzlaff, a pioneer missionary in China, established an Immigrant Mission at Castle Garden and succeeded in awakening an interest in this cause.

A few years later, in the subsequent period, the churches took up the question of providing for the needs of the immigrants.

The Deutsches Emigrantenhaus was incorporated in 1871. Pastor Wilhelm Heinrich Berkemeier became the first housefather. His unflagging zeal gave strong support to a much-needed work of love. His venerable personality was a benediction to his contemporaries.

In the course of the years eight Lutheran Immigrant Houses and Seamen's
Missions have been established at this port and are doing effective
Christian work.

Toward the close of this period, in 1864, a seed was planted on the
Wartburg near Mount Vernon which has grown to be a great tree.

Peter Moller, a wealthy layman, had met with a great sorrow in the death of his son. He was planning to expend a large sum for a monument in memory of this son, when Dr. Passavant, an eminent worker in behalf of invalids and orphans, called upon him, perhaps with the hope of obtaining a contribution for some of his numerous charities. To him Mr. Moller confided his purpose. It did not take long to outline the plan of a nobler memorial than the proposed shaft in Greenwood. With $30,000 a hundred acres of land were bought and a house of mercy was established which for fifty years has been a blessing not only to the orphans who have been sheltered and trained there, but also to the churches of New York that have been privileged to contribute to its support.

Its first housefather was George Carl Holls, one of the brethren of
Wichern's Rauhe Haus near Hamburg. In 1886 he was succeeded by Pastor
Gottlieb Conrad Berkemeier, who with the help of his wife, Susette
Kraeling, has brought the institution to a position of great prosperity
and usefulness.

[illustration: "The Wartburg at Mount Vernon">[

In the Nineteenth Century 1866-1900

Three factors combined to make this period eventful in our history: confessionalism, immigration and the transportation facilities that led to a Greater New York.

At the close of the Civil War we had 24 Lutheran churches on the territory now included in Greater New York. Two of these were English and the rest were German. At the close of the century the record stood: Yiddish, 1; English, 17; Scandinavian, 19; German and German-English, 60.

The tide of confessionalism which had been rising in Europe for half a century touched America in the forties and reached a high water mark during the period under review. The question of subscription to the symbols of the Book of Concord became the chief subject of discussion among our theologians.

In 1866 a number of pastors and churches, under the leadership of Pastor Steimle, severed their connection with the Ministerium for confessional reasons. They formed a new synod which adopted all the Confessions and took a firm stand in opposition to membership in secret societies.

The "Steimle" Synod, as it was usually called, disbanded in 1872, its
members going, some to the Missouri Synod, others to the Ministerium.
Their organ, the Lutherisches Kirchenblatt, was merged with the
Lutherischer Herold.

Pastor Steimle died in 1880. He was a devout man, a rugged personality, beloved by his people and esteemed by his colleagues. His congregation in Brooklyn, now served by the pastors Kraeling, father and son, is one of the strong churches of the city.

One of the early members of the congregation, whose support meant much for his pastor, was Jacob Goedel. He subsequently returned to Germany and spent his latter years in the city of Koeln on the Rhine.

In 1888 I spent a memorable week in Koeln. The history of the city antedates the Christian era. Its cathedral is a fane of wonderful beauty. In the Reformation Koeln joined the Lutheran forces and for eighty years two of its archbishops were Lutheran pastors. The "Consultation" of Archbishop Hermann is one of the liturgies of the Lutheran Church. It played a prominent part in the construction of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. Owing to political jealousies among the Protestants, the fortunes of war restored the city and the cathedral to the Catholics. Until recent times Protestantism was an almost negligible force in Koeln. At the time of my visit the Protestant Churches were very efficient in all kinds of religious and social work and had an influence in the City Council out of all proportion to their numbers. Inquiring into the reason of this change I was told that it was largely owing to the labors of a man by the name of Jacob Goedel who had come to them from America and had introduced American methods of church work into Koeln.

[illustration: "Gottlob Frederick Krotel, D.D., LL.D.">[

In 1867 another synodical split took place. The New York Ministerium separated from the General Synod on confessional grounds and took part in the organization of the General Council. Thereupon most of the English-speaking members, occupying a milder confessional basis, left the Ministerium, formed the Synod of New York and united with the General Synod.* *The author's connection with the work in New York began about this time. After graduation at Yale College in 1865, he found employment in a New York library, and soon after matriculated as a student in Union Theological Seminary. The needs of Protestant Germans on the East Side attracted him into mission work which resulted in the formation of a congregation of which he took pastoral charge upon his ordination by the Synod of New York, October 19th, 1868.

The lines of three synodical bodies, General Council. [sic] General Synod and Synodical Conference, that is "Missouri," were now distinctly drawn and for the rest of the century the relations of Lutheran ministers and churches were sharply defined. Ministers were kept busy in explaining the differences, but it is to be feared that some of the laymen did not always understand.

In 1868 members of St. James Church, who sympathized with the attitude of the General Council in favor of a stricter confessional basis, organized a new English congregation, Holy Trinity, of which Dr. Krotel became the first pastor. Dr. Wedekind was called to St. James. Both men, pastors of English congregations, had come from Germany in their early youth, were educated in American schools and were thoroughly acquainted with American institutions. For a generation these two men, each in his own sphere, on opposite sides of a high synodical fence, contributed much to the growth and progress of the churches in this city.

Immigration from Lutheran lands continued to increase and reached its high water mark in this period.

Prior to 1867 there were few Swedes in New York. In 1870 they numbered less than 3,000. The immigrants were chiefly farmers who settled in the West. In 1883 large numbers began to come from the cities of Sweden and these settled in the cities of the East. In 1900 the census credited New York with 29,000 Swedes. In 1910, including the children, there were 57,464, of which 56,766 were Protestants.

The first Swedish Lutheran church was organized in 1865 by Pastor Andreen who had been sent here for this purpose by the Augustana Synod. Among the first trustees was Captain John Ericsson, the inventor of the Monitor. Its first pastor was Axel Waetter, a cultured minister of the Swedish National Church.

At present there are fourteen Swedish Lutheran churches in New York reporting a membership of 8,626 souls.

An Immigrant House in Manhattan, a Home for the Aged and an Orphans' Home in Brooklyn, and Upsala College in Kenilworth, N. J., represent the institutional work of the Swedish Lutherans.

To Pastor Lauritz Larsen I am indebted for the following sketch of our
Norwegian churches:

"The Norwegians have always been a sea-faring people and a people looking for fields of labor all over the World. The real immigration begins about 1849, but there were Scandinavians on Manhattan Island in the Sixteenth Century. The Bronx is named after a Danish farmer, Jonas Bronck.

"I believe that the first Norwegian Lutheran Church in New York was organized by Lauritz Larsen, then Norwegian Professor in Theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, who stopped here for a while on his way to and from Norway in the early sixties. The first resident pastor was Ole Juul, who came to New York in 1866 and labored here until 1876, when he was succeeded by Pastor Everson, who was actively engaged as pastor in New York and Brooklyn from 1873, until 1917, when failing health compelled him to retire.

"At present, the Norwegian Lutheran churches of Greater New York are carrying on an active and aggressive work. Their total membership is not as large as it might be. Partly because the Norwegians coming here from the State Church do not at once realize the importance or necessity of becoming members of local congregations, but have the idea that as long as they attend services, have their children baptized and confirmed, and so forth, they are members of the church. The report of the membership of the churches is therefore, hardly a correct indication of the number of people reached or even the strength of the Norwegian Lutherans in the Metropolis.

"The language question is one of great difficulty. Many of our people live, as it were, with one foot in Norway and one in America; and are thinking of returning to the old country at some time or other. There is also a constant influx of new people from Norway which makes it imperative to have Norwegian services constantly. On the other hand, the young people are rapidly Americanized and prefer to use the language of the country, which necessitates English work, and where this demand is made, the young people are, generally speaking, quite loyal to their church, but it is no easy matter to satisfy both elements and to keep the old and the young together in the same church.

"The Norwegians have been very active in Inner Mission and Social Service work. As witness: the organization of the Norwegian Lutheran Deaconesses' Home and Hospital about thirty years ago. This institution has now grown to be the largest Norwegian charitable institution in the country and has a splendidly equipped modern hospital and an excellent Sisters' Home, which together represent a value of $500,000. It is not owned by a church, but is owned and controlled by a corporation of Norwegian Lutherans.

"The churches have directly been engaged in Inner Mission work for a number of years, and now have three city missionaries constantly at work. The institutions conducted by this branch of the service are the Bethesda Rescue Mission at Woodhull St., Brooklyn, the Day Nursery at 46th St., Brooklyn, and an extensive industrial plant also in Brooklyn. Besides the Inner Mission has purchased land on Staten Island and erected a cottage there for a summer colony for poor children. The Norwegians of New York have also built a modern Children's Home at Dyker Heights, Brooklyn. Although this is not owned by the church, but by a corporation of Norwegians, its constitution provides that the religious instruction should be based upon Luther's Small Catechism. The Home is now taking care of sixty children, and is in charge of a Deaconess from the local mother house mentioned above. A new Inner Mission Agency was started two years ago when the late C. M. Eger bequeathed a large sum of money for the establishment of the Old People's Home in connection with Our Saviour's Lutheran Church. At present it is located in his former home, 112 Pulaski Street, and will, no doubt, be of great importance for our church work in the future."

The statistics of the Scandinavian churches are presented in part in the following table. The figures of the first and second lines are taken from the United States Census of 1910. They include the children where one or both parents are of foreign descent. Those of the third line are obtained by deducting 10 per cent. from the number of Protestants, in the second line. The number of "souls," fourth line, is the aggregate number of baptized persons, old or young, connected with or related to the respective congregations.

Swedes Norwegians Danes Finns Total 1. Population 53,464 34,733 13,197 10,304 116,698 2. Protestants 56,766 33,344 11,996 10,304 112,410 3. Lutherans 51,090 30,010 10,797 9,274 101,171 4. Souls 8,365 10,433 950 2,540 22,288 5. Communicants 3,829 2,152 422 840 7,643 6. No. of Churches 13 12 3 3 31

Prior to 1871 Germans were a negligible quantity in the political history of Europe. Divided into a multitude of tribes, with divergent interests, for centuries they had no political standing and were the football of the nations around them. From Louis XIV to the Corsican invader, except during the reign of Frederick the Great, their history was one of political incohesion and economic poverty.

Even in New York they were looked upon as aliens in the city which they had helped to found and where in three centuries their sons had stood in the forefront of the battle for freedom. The names of Jacob Leisler, of the seventeenth century, Peter Zenger of the eighteenth century, Franz Lieber and Karl Schurz of the nineteenth century are indelibly inscribed among the champions of freedom in America. Yet fifty years ago "Dutch" in New York had almost the same evaluation that "Sheeny" and "Dago" have today.

In 1871 the divergent fragments of the German people, after many futile experiments in their history, at last attained national unity. The Germans of New York celebrated the event with a procession which made a deep impression upon the city. From that day forward they were no longer held below par in popular estimation. This became manifest in the success of their efforts in the field of social and religious work. Thirty German churches were added to the roll before the close of the century.

The completion of the Elevated Lines in 1879 and the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883 changed the course of history for our Lutheran congregations. For decades the ever-increasing hosts of immigrants had been interned in unwholesome tenements on a narrow island. Now ways of escape were found. Wide thoroughfares led in every direction. The churches in Brooklyn and Bronx grew rapidly in numbers and in strength.

It was hard for those of us who still held the fort on Manhattan Island to see the congregations we had gathered with painstaking effort scattering in every direction, especially to lose the children and the grandchildren of our faithful families. But when we saw them in the comfortable homes and open spaces of the suburbs, who could wish them to return to the hopeless atmosphere of the tenements? From this time forward the churches of the surrounding boroughs grew rapidly, largely at the expense, however, of the churches of Manhattan.

From 1881 to the close of the century Bronx added nine churches,
Richmond five, Brooklyn and Queens thirty-two to the roll. Manhattan, it
is true, also added eleven churches, but they were all above
Forty-second Street, most of them far uptown.

The tenth of November, 1883, was a red letter day in our calendar. It was the quadricentennial of Luther's birthday. The preparations for the celebration met with a hearty response in the city. The large dailies gave much space to the occasion. Dr. Seiss delivered a memorable address in Steinway Hall. Under the auspices of the Evangelical Alliance a distinguished company gathered in the Academy of Music and heard William Taylor and Phillips Brooks deliver orations of majestic eloquence.

The celebration gave a marked impulse to our church work. Our congregations increased in numbers and in influence. Its chief value was in its efeet [sic] upon the young people. Hitherto they hardly comprehended the significance of their church. Its services were conducted in a language which they understood with difficulty. As they grew up and established new homes in the suburbs where there were few churches of their faith, they easily drifted out of their communion. A great change came over them at this time. They began to take an active interest in church questions and in church extension. As they followed the inevitable trend to the suburbs they connected themselves with churches of their faith or organized new ones and became active workers in them. The remarkable increase of congregations in the entire Metropolitan District was to a large extent owing to the impulse derived from the quadricentennial of 1883.

When Lutherans of various churches and synods were thus brought together there was one thing that puzzled them. They could not understand why there should be so many kinds of Lutherans and why they should have so little to do with one another. This feeling soon found expression in the organization of societies of men interested in the larger mission of the Church.

In 1883 the Martin Luther Society was organized by such laymen as Arnold J. D. Wedemeyer, Jacob F. Miller, John H. Tietjen, Jacob A. Geissenhainer, George P. Ockerhausen, Charles A. Schieren, John H. Boschen and others, originally for the purpose of preparing a suitable celebration of the Luther Quadricentennial. In this effort they were successful. In addition to their local work in the interest of the celebration they secured the erection of a bronze statue of Luther in Washington.

But the chief reason for the organization of the Society was indicated in a letter sent to the pastors and church councils of the Lutheran churches of New York and vicinity which read in part as follows:

"In view of the efforts made all around us to bring about a closer and more harmonious relation between the various Protestant denominations, the Martin Luther Society of the City of New York respectfully begs you to consider whether the time has not come to make an effort to bring about, if not a union, at least a better understanding and more fraternal intercourse between the Lutherans themselves. We all deplore the divisions that separate us; we believe that the reasons for these divisions are more imaginary than real, and we are persuaded that a free and frank interchange of opinions will materially help to remove whatever obstacles may be in the way.

"We surely recognize the fact that our Lutheran Church does not command that influence or maintain that position in this city and vicinity which its history, purity of doctrine and conservative policy entitles it to; and we may be sure that just so long as our divisions continue, loss of membership and prestige, increasing weakness, and final disaster, will be our lot.

"Brethren, in unity is strength. Earnestly desiring to do what we can to bring it about, we ask the pastors of our Church and their church officers to take this important matter into consideration, and to take steps to participate in a meeting in this behalf which the Martin Luther Society proposes to hold on Tuesday evening, January 22d, 1889, in the hall of the Academy of Medicine, No. 12 West 31st Street, in this city."

The annual banquet of the Martin Luther Society was an important function. Distinguished speakers lifted high the banner of Lutheranism, and good fellowship began to be cultivated among the representatives of churches and synods hitherto unacquainted with each other. Nearly all of its members have passed on and the Society is only a memory among a few survivors of those who shared its genial hospitality and recall the kindly fellowship of its meetings. The Martin Luther Society blazed the trail for the wider path on which we are walking today, and it deserves to be held in honored remembrance.

A few years later, in 1888, the younger men caught the inspiration and established The Luther League. The organization soon extended to other parts of the State and subsequently to the entire country. It has splendidly attained its objective, that of rallying and training the young people in the support and service of the church. Its official organ, The Luther League Review, is published in this city under the editorship of the Hon. Edward F. Eilert. Eleven hundred members are enrolled in the local Leagues of New York City.

The first practical attempt of the ministers to get together was in the organization of "Koinonia." This took place in the home of the writer in 1896. The society meets once a month for the purpose of discussing the papers which each member in his turn is required to read. Representing as it does Lutherans of all kinds, species and varieties, it serves as a clearing house for the theological output of the members. It has been helpful in removing some of the misunderstandings that are liable to arise among men of positive convictions.

On the third Sunday in Advent, 1898, Sister Emma Steen, of Richmond, Indiana, the first Lutheran deaconess to engage in parish work in New York, was installed in Christ Church. She had received her preparation for this ministry in the motherhouse at Kaiserswerth on the Rhine, and was one of the first six sisters to enter the motherhouse of the General Synod in Baltimore. After four years of faithful service she was succeeded by Sister Regena Bowe who has now for fifteen years by her devoted work illustrated the value of the female diaconate in the work of our churches in New York. Deaconeses are now laboring in seven of our churches. They are needed in a hundred congregations.

The revival of this office is due to the genius and zeal of Pastor Fliedner who established the first motherhouse at Kaiserswerth on the Rhine in 1833. In America there are eight motherhouses with an enrollment of 378 sisters.* *In 1885 the author was appointed chairman of a committee of the General Synod to report on the practicability of establishing the office of deaconess in the parish work of our American churches. In pursuit of information he visited the principal Deaconess Houses of Europe. His reports were published in the Minutes of the Synod from 1887 to 1897 and contributed to the introduction of the office into the Synod's scheme of church work.

The years under review, the closing period of the nineteenth century, were years of stress and storm in our synodical relations. But the questions that divided us did not stop the practical work of the synods. Under the stimulus of a generous rivalry some things were accomplished and foundations were laid for still larger work in the new century.

In the Twentieth Century 1900-1918

Our churches entered the twentieth century with hope and cheer. With an enrollment of 94 congregations in the greater city and an advance patrol of many more in the Metropolitan District, it had become an army of respectable size among the forces striving for the Christian uplift of our city.

What a contrast between this picture and that of our church at the beginning of the nineteenth century! Then two moribund congregations were feebly holding the fort. One of these soon surrendered, "on account of the present embarrassment of finances." Now a compact army had already been assembled, while new races and languages were beginning to reinforce our ranks. Even the English contingent, which had so long maintained an unequal fight, was securely entrenched in four boroughs with seventeen congregations on its roll.

At this writing, in May, 1918, we number in Greater New York 160 churches with an enrollment of sixty thousand communicant members. At the close of the nineteenth century, in 1898, we had 90 churches with 43,691 communicants. The rate of increase in twenty years was 35 per cent., not very large but sufficiently so to awaken favorable comment from Dr. Laidlaw, an expert observer of church conditions in this city. In 1904, in an article in "Federation," on "Oldest New York," he wrote as follows:

"There are now over fifty Christian bodies in this city, and "Oldest New York's" history shows the fatuity of expecting that the heterogeneous population of the present city will all worship in the same way within the lifetime of its youngest religious worker. Man's thoughts have not been God's thoughts, nor man's ways God's ways, in the mingling of races and religions on this island. The Lutheranism that so sorely struggled for a foothold in the early days is now the second Protestant communion in numbers, and its recent increment throughout Greater New York, contributed to by German, Scandinavian, Finnish and many English Lutheran churches, has exceeded that of any other Protestant body."

The causes which contributed to our progress in the latter part of the nineteenth century were still effective. The consolidation of Greater New York, bringing together into one metropolis the scattered boroughs, marked the advent of a Greater Lutheran Church in New York. The bridges and the subways, the telephone and the Catskill Aqueduct, public works of unprecedented magnitude, were among the material foundations of the new growth of our churches.

We were beginning to reap in the second and third generations the fruits of the vast immigration of the nineteenth century.

A new era began for the use of the English language. There had been a demand for English services as early as 1750, but in the eighteenth and the greater part of the nineteenth centuries it had not been met. Fifty years ago, with its two churches, and even twenty-five years ago with four churches, English was a forlorn hope. The advance began in the last decade of the 19th century when twelve English churches were organized. In 1900 there were seventeeen English churches on the roll. Since then 32 have been added, five in Bronx, fifteen in Brooklyn, eleven in Queens, one in Richmond. Besides these forty-nine churches in which the English language is used exclusively, almost all of the so-called foreign churches use English to a greater or less extent as the needs of the people may require.

But there was a deeper reason for the growth of our church. Ever since the Luther Centennial of 1883 the young people of our churches had begun to understand not only the denominational significance of their church but also something of its inner characteristics and life. In various groups, in Manhattan, Bronx and Brooklyn, they got together and organized English congregations in which an intelligent Lutheran consciousness prevailed.

The Home Mission and Church Exension Boards of the General Synod recognized the importance of the moment in the metropolis of America and gave their effective aid. In Brooklyn and Queens the work received large support from Charles A. Schieren and the Missionary Society with which he co-operated. Sixteen churches were established through the aid of this Society. Schieren was a native of Germany but he early saw the importance of reaching the people in the language which they could best understand. As a citizen he was public spirited and progressive. From 1894 to 1895 he was mayor of Brooklyn.

The pastors of these incipient congregations were men of vision who had been attracted to the work in New York by its difficulty and its opportunity. They came from different seminaries and synodical associations and they had to minister to congregations in which all varieties of the older churches were represented. But they soon learned to cooperate with one another in measures looking to the larger interests of the entire field. Team work became possible. A stimulus was given to the work such as had never before been felt in the Lutheran churches of New York.

A Ministers' Association, to which all Lutheran pastors of the Metropolitan District, are eligible, was organized in 1904. Its monthly meetings brought about a mutual understanding and fostered a fraternal spirit that have been of great value in the promotion of the general work of the church.

The synod of New York and New England, composed of the English churches of the New York Ministerium was organized in 1902. It found its special mission in planting and rearing English missions in the new sections of the greater city. It has added nine English churches to the roll.

The Synod of New York, a merger of the New York and New Jersey, the Hartwick and the Franckean synods also devoted itself to the special task of caring for the English speaking young people. Under its auspices thirteen new churches have been organized. To the indefatigable labors of its Superintendent of Missions, Dr. Carl Zinssmeister, much credit is due for the success of the work.

The Synod of Missouri, although largely a German body, rivals the other synods in its fostering care of the English work. At least thirteen English congregations in this city have been organized by "Missouri" since the beginning of this century.

The relation of the various boroughs to the growth of the church may be seen from the following figures in which the number of communicants in 1918 is compared with that of 1898.

Boroughs 1898 1918 Increase
Manhattan 21,611 15,928 5,683*
Bronx 2,048 5,932 3,884
Brooklyn 17,405 28,270 10,865
Queens 1,671 7,139 5,468
Richmond 956 1,948 992
43,691 59,217 15,526
*Decrease

The starred figures for Manhattan call attention to the change of population that has taken place in New York, particularly as it affects Manhattan. While the total increase of population in New York from 1910 to 1915 was 667,928 there was a decrease in Manhattan of 193,795.

This decrease in numbers, and still more the substitution of Catholic and Jewish peoples to an unprecedented extent for those of Protestant antecedents, produced a marked change in the membership of Protestant churches. The decline in Protestant membership in Manhattan from 1900 to 1910, according to Dr. Laidlaw, amounted to 74,012.

It is not surprising therefore that the Lutheran churches were called upon to bear their share of the loss. As we have seen, it amounted in two decades to 5,623 [sic]. Most of this deficit, 4,042, is chargeable to the churches south of Fourteenth Street, where Protestants of all denominations fail to hold their own. The balance, 1,837, came from other churches south of Forty-second Street.

Three churches were added during the past twenty years, Our Saviour
(English) in 1898, Holy Trinity (Slovak) in 1904 and a mission of the
Missouri Synod in 1916 in the Spuyten Duyvil neighborhood, the most
northern point thus far occupied by us on Manhattan.

For three churches gained there is an offset of four churches lost:
Bethlehem in East Sixty-fifth Street, Christ Church in West Fiftieth
Street, Immanuel in East Eighty-third Street and the Danish church in
Yorkville. The Danish church removed to Bronx while the others effected
mergers with sister congregations.

The present indications are that we have come to a standstill on Manhattan Island and that it is no longer a question of how many churches we shall build, but how many we shall lose.

Our assets at present may be described as follows: We have thirty congregations, twenty-six of them owning their houses of worship. The net value of their property, deducting debts, is $3,160,000. The average value of each church is $100,000. Besides the thirty organized congregations there are seven missions in which services are maintained in the following languages: Finnish, Lettish, Esthonian, Polish, Italian and Yiddish.

The number of communicants is 15,978. The number of pupils in the Sunday Schools is 7,245. The number of children in eight parochial schools is 669. The number attending instruction in religion on weekdays, including catechumens, is 1,580.

But although our churches in Manhattan are declining in numbers while those of the other boroughs are growing, Manhattan still holds the key to the city. For generations it will be the community in which the most serious problems of church and society will have to be studied and solved. Manhattan has strategical value not merely for Greater New York but for every city in the land where similar problems must be solved. If our churches run away from such a field, we shall never gain a victory else where. If we win here, we shall be entitled to a place in the legion of honor.

Four higher schools connected with the churches of New York have endeared themselves to the hearts of their friends and are giving promise of growing usefulness.

Concordia College originated in St. Matthew's Academy, in 1881. After years of struggle and sacrifice it was moved to Bronxville in 1908, where it occupies a valuable property. It has 110 students.

Wagner College was called into being in 1883 in Rochester. It belongs to the New York Ministerium. Numerous pastors in this city are alumni of Wagner College. In 1916 it was decided to move the college to New York. A splendid property of 38 acres was purchased on Grymes Hill near Stapleton, Staten Island, and in the Fall of 1918 it will take up its work within the precincts of Greater New York.

Upsala College began as an academy in Brooklyn in 1893. It belongs to the Swedish Augustana Synod. It was moved to Kenilworth, N. J., in 1898, and became a college in 1904. Within ten years it has contributed more than forty pastors, missionaries and teachers to the work of the church.

Hartwick Seminary is on the headwaters of the Susquehanna in Otsego County. It is a product of the eighteenth century and not of the twentieth. But since Johann Christopher Kunze, pastor of the Old Swamp Church, was one of its founders, and since it still contributes pastors to the work of the churches in New York, in spite of its distance from the city it must not be overlooked in our mention of the schools of New York.

Under the auspices of the Inner Mission Society Pastor Buermeyer has developed a much-needed work among our brothers and sisters who in their old age or by reason of sickness, loneliness or poverty are not reached by the ordinary ministrations of the congregation. It is known its the City Mission and it will doubtless receive the continued support of all who read carefully the 25th chapter of St. Matthew.

The Hospice for Young Men is another form of Inner Mission work in which a good beginning has been made.

The Lutheran Society was organized in 1914. "Its object is to promote the general interests of the Lutheran Church by encouraging a friendly intercourse among its members." At this writing, in 1918, it numbers over four hundred members. By bringing together in friendly intercourse active churchmen of otherwise widely separately congregations and synods it has contributed materially to a better understanding of the aims and the tasks of our entire communion.

Under its auspices the quadricentennial anniversary of the Reformation was celebrated in this city in a manner worthy of the occasion. The executive secretary of the committee, Pastor O. H. Pannkoke, reports as follows on the general results of the celebration:

"Two facts are of considerable interest, such as to class them as worthy of recording as a permanent accomplishment. In the first place we have had the cooperation in this undertaking of every Lutheran synod represented in New York, and I believe we have succeeded in carrying through the undertaking without violating the confidence placed in us by any section of the Lutheran Church.

"In the second place, our Committee has injected into the general Reformation influence the question of the wider influence of the Reformation. Practically every section of the country has taken up the discussion of the religious influence of the Reformation, also of the influence of the Reformation on every side of life."

On the roll of Former Pastors, in the Appendix, are recorded the names of men who laid the foundations of the present congregations. Their labors and their sacrifices entitle them to a place in a book of remembrance. Some names are missing. We tried hard to obtain them. For these lacunae we offer our apologies to the historians of the next centennial. In 1918 we were still struggling with the problem of statistics.

Nowhere are ministers forgotten so soon as here in New York. The congregations themselves are rapidly engulphed in the ceaseless tides of humanity that sweep over the island. Now and then some beloved pastor is remembered by some faithful friends, but in a few years the very names of the men who built the churches are forgotten. Like the knights of old: "Their swords are rust, Their steeds are dust. Their souls are with the saints we trust."

Before ending the story of which a faint outline has here been given, we recall with affection and reverence some of the men whose outstanding personality has not yet faded from our memory. Their labors prepared the ground for the harvests which a younger generation is now permitted to reap.

Stohlmann was the connecting link with the earlier periods. He was an able preacher, a warm hearted pastor and a conscientious man.

Geissenhainer, the pastor of St. Paul's, which he organized in 1841 after having been an assistant of his father in St. Matthew's since 1826, was another connecting link with the past.

Held of St. John's was a pupil of Claus Harms. His eloquent sermons attracted great congregations to Christopher Street.

After fourteen fruitful years in St. James' Church, Wedekind was called to Christopher Street in November, 1878, to succeed Pastor Held. Here he labored for twelve years, edifying the church and inspiring St. John's to bcome one of our most efficient congregations. Under his direction at least four young men of the congregation were led into the ministry. He died April 8, 1897.

[illustration: "Augustus Charles Wedekind, D.D.">[

Under a quiet exterior Krotel concealed a forceful personality. He was a born leader and took a large part in the development of the General Council. As editor of the Lutherischer Herold for three years and of The Lutheran for many years his writings had a wide influence. From 1868 to 1895 he was pastor of Holy Trinity Church. In 1896, in the 71st year of his age, he accepted a call to the newly organized Church of the Advent, which he served until his death on May 17th, 1907. Under the pen name of Insulanus he delighted the readers of The Lutheran for forty years with his reflections on men and things in New York. Among his published works are a Life of Melanchthon, Meditations on the Beatitudes and Explanations of Luther's Catechism.

Julius Ehrhardt was an unassuming, lovable and scholarly Suabian. He laid the foundations of St. Paul's in Harlem, when the little wooden church stood among the truck gardens. He died in 1899.

Moldenke was a descendant of Salzburg exiles who settled in East Prussia in 1731. He came to us from Wisconsin, organized Zion Church which was subsequently merged with St. Peter's after he had accepted a call to succeed Hennicke in that church. He was an able preacher and a scholarly writer. Under his leadership St. Peter's became a strong congregation. In 1872 he contributed a series of articles on Die Lutheraner des Ostens to Der Pilger of Reading. A reprint of these articles in book form would be a valuable contribution to the story of the Lutherans of New York and a fitting memorial of a minister of mark and influence.

Johann Heinrich Sieker was born in Schweinfurth, Bavaria, October 23d, 1839. He received his theological education at Gettysburg. His early ministry was in connection with the Wisconsin Synod. In 1876, when Ruperti resigned at St. Matthew's, Sieker was called from St. Paul, Minnesota, to become his successor. For 28 years he was the pastor of St. Matthew's and a leading minister of the Missouri Synod. In synodical matters he was an uncompromising defender of the faith as he understood it. He left the record of a singularly devoted and successful ministry. At least thirty young men were led into the ministry under his influence. Roesner's "Ehrendenkmal," a sketch of his life and character, ought to be read by every Lutheran minister in this city. He died in 1904.

John Jacob Young was a native of the Rhenish Palatinate, born at Langenkandel, September 13th, 1846. He came to America in his boyhood. He served in the Union army during the Civil War. When the war was over he studied for the ministry at Gettysburg. He served a number of congregations in Maryland and Indiana till 1893, when he was called to the pastorate of St. John's in Christopher Street. Here for 21 years he faithfully followed his calling as a shepherd of souls.

Charles Armand Miller came to us from the South. He was born in Sheperdstown, West Virginia, March 7, 1864. He was educated at Roanoke College and after his ordination he was for a time pastor of the College Church. He succeeded Dr. Krotel in Holy Trinity Church in 1896 and gave twelve years of devoted and successful service to this congregation. His subsequent fields of labor were in Charleston, South Carolina, and in Philadelphia. He was a scholarly writer, an able preacher, a sympathetic pastor and a loyal friend. Among his published writings were The Perfect Prayer, The Sacramental Feast, The Way to the Cross and a volume of poems entitled Ad Astra.

[illustration: "Pastor J. H. Sieker">[

He died in the prime of his life, September 9th, 1917. Who that knew him will ever forget the genial spirit of Charles Armand Miller?

It would be a congenial task to give a fuller account of these men and of Ruperti, Vorberg, Raegener, Hennicke, Waetter, Foehlinger, Koenig, Halfmann, Frey, Weissel, Beyer and others whose names and lives a few of the older preachers will recall. Perhaps some who read this book will accept the suggestion and write accounts of these pioneer workmen. What a Ministers' Association they would have formed if we could have gotten them together into a conference to discuss the terms of agreement. But that was impossible thirty years ago.

A singularly interesting career came to a close just as I was concluding these memorial paragraphs. Dr. Charles E. Weltner died in Brunswick, Georgia, December 22d, 1917.

He was born in Wilhelmshoehe, January 28th, 1860, where his father commanded a company of soldiers in the royal castle. In his early youth he was sent to New York to meet a relative whom he never found. One Sunday morning, homeless and friendless, he accosted me after service at the door of the church. I offered him employment in my office and for several years he was an efficient helper in the educational and mission work of my parish. Although he was already suffering from defective eyesight, which not long afterward resulted in total blindness, he expressed an ardent desire to enter the ministry. Under the circumstances this seemed to be impossible, but his earnest pleas overcame every objection. In 1884 he entered Hartwick Seminary where he was graduated with honor in 1888. Unable himself to read the text books, his friends read them for him. Especially helpful to him in his studies were Professor Hiller and his wife, the daughter of the sainted Dr. George B. Miller.

Upon the completion of his course in 1888 he was ordained to the Gospel ministry and for the next four years rendered faithful service as the assistant of his pastor in Christ Church. Few that heard him would have suspected his blindness. His remarkable memory enabled him in conducting the Service to use the Bible and the Liturgy as though he could see. In the library he could go to the shelves and place his hands upon the books that he needed. His reader then supplied him with the material needed for study.

In 1893 he took temporary charge of St. John's Church in Christopher
Street.

In the Fall of 1893 he accepted a call to St. Matthew's Church in Augusta, Georgia. His retirement in 1896 to take charge of a mission among the cotton mill operatives of Columbia, S. C., was deeply regretted not only by his congregation but by the entire city.

Thus far his ministry, however useful it had been, was only a preparation for the remarkable work he was called upon to do in South Carolina and adjoining states. The mountain whites who had been drawn into the cotton mill work of the South were illiterate and but ill prepared for their new conditions.

[illustration: "Charles E. Weltner, D.D.">[

With the help of his devoted wife, a night school was established. Additional schools became necessary. The Columbia Board of Education became interested and supplied the teachers while the mill company provided for the equipment. Mrs. Weltner helped the girls by creating an interest in good housekeeping and in beautifying the homes and their surroundings.

The movement extended to other parts of the state and into adjoining states, and Dr. Weltner was called upon to explain and direct it. The blind man had seen a vision. The homeless youth of New York's East Side became the prophet of a new era who turned many to righteousness. His eyes now see the King in His beauty.