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They Built Churches By the Millburn Centennial Committee
Originally appeared in 1957 |
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A fairly authentic story tells that in the early 1740's, a small roughly constructed church was built at about what would now be the corner of Main
Street and Meeker Place, and the Rev. Timothy Symms was installed in it as
pastor in 1746. In addition to his home near the church, the minister was
given 100 acres of land on Parsonage Hill Road for "glebe", from which he
had a right to cut wood, or to use in any way he wished for maintenance. This
grant also provided a name for "Parsonage" Hill Road. The church was a
a few years later rebuilt in Springfield as the Springfield Presbyterian Church.
In October, 1831, the first of the permanent churches established in the
community was organized by William Parsil, as the "Oak Ridge Sunday
School Association," and held its meetings in the schoolhouse.
However, although Mr. Parsil's Association is the first permanent church,
it was not the first Sunday School. In 1818 a Sunday School, said to be
the first in New Jersey, was organized, and held its services in the washhouse
of the Campbell homestead on Brookside Drive, then called the Valley Road.
St. Stephen's Episcopal Church held its first service in a room over a store
in Millhurn Center on October 17, 1851. Soon afterward, through the
generosity of Israel D. Condit, in donating land, the present church was built
on Main Street. It is interesting to note that the founders' group was incorporated as "Rector, Wardens and Vestry of St. Stephen's Church, Millville."
St. Rose of Lima's R.C. Church was organized in Springfield in 1852, later
moving to its present location in Short Hills, although Catholics of the community had been hearing Mass in the home of John Hogan, No. 79 Old Short
Hills Road, Short Hills, as early as 1847.
On October 18, 1858, a group of nine men and women organized the Millburn Baptist Church, and on August 10, 1859, the corner stone of the present
building was laid, on land at the corner of Millburn Avenue and Spring Street,
donated by Mrs. Isabelle Lee.
A Church to he known as "The Wyoming Presbyterian Church" was
formed, and the congregation of 30 met for the first service on November 9,
1873, in the railroad station, with the Rev. Brown Emerson preaching on the
text, Genesis 28:17, "How Dreadful is this Place. This is none other than
the house of God; and this is the Gate of Heaven." Services were held there
for several years, the organ being trundled every Sunday in a wheelbarrow.
The first Wyoming public school classes were also held in the railroad station
Other churches took their places in the permanent scene. In 1879 the
African M. E. Church was founded, and services were held in a rented hall.
In 1881 it had two members and a minister, but a small place of worship was
erected on Mechanic Street. The present Church, known as "Mount Zion
African M. E. Church" was built at 54 Church Street in 1902.
The establishment of Christ Church Parish was primarily due to Stewart
Hartshorn who donated the land and $1,000 in cash. The organization was
completed on September 20, 1882, with fifty members, and held its first ser-
vice in the Music Hall on October 15th, 1882, with Rev. Frank L. Humphreys,
the first rector, conducting the service. On Trinity Sunday in 1884 the Con-
gregation joined in prayer for the first time in its own building-the fieldstone
Gothic church which, with additions and enlargements, is still in use.
The Springfield Presbyterian Church was for many years, starting with the
days when this area was part of a royal colony, the center of the religious life
of a majority of the people, and around it, too, the tides of war ebbed and
flowed on many an anxious day. However, as only those institutions which
come within the physical boundaries of the present Millburn Township are
recorded here, the full history of this church, "Mother" to so many others of
like denomination, must be omitted.
A perusal of the newspapers of the last decades of the 19th century shows
that attempts were made to establish other churches. For a few years, the
"Congregational Church of Short Hills" met on Sundays in the Music Hall,
a Union Sabbath School held classes in the school house on Old Short Hills
Road, and another Union Sunday School also met at various times in the
Music Hall. A Methodist Church known as "The Tabernacle" held services
on Taylor Street for a time, but a majority of people of the Methodist faith
continued to attend services in the Methodist Episcopal Church of Springfield,
and no church of that sect became permanent here.
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