Guide to the Records of High Street Presbyterian Church (Newark, N.J.) 1852-1949 MG 8

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Descriptive Summary
Historical Note
Scope and Content Note
Arrangement
Restrictions
Access Points
Related Material
Administrative Information

Container List

Church Record


Guide to the Records of High Street Presbyterian Church (Newark, N.J.)
1852-1949
MG 8
The New Jersey Historical Society
52 Park Place
Newark, New Jersey 07102
Contact: NJHS Library
(973) 596-8500 x249
library@jerseyhistory.org
https://www.jerseyhistory.org
© 2004 All rights reserved.
The New Jersey Historical Society, Publisher
Inventory prepared by Laura Ruttum as part of the “Farm to City” project funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

Finding aid encoded by Laura Ruttum. January 2004. Production of the EAD 2002 version of this finding aid was made possible by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Finding aid written in English.


Descriptive Summary

Creator: High Street Presbyterian Church (Newark, N.J.)
Title: High Street Presbyterian Church (Newark, N.J.) Collection
Dates: 1852-1949
Abstract: This collection consists of a record book of missionary efforts by the High Street Presbyterian Church in cooperation with the First German Church, a record book for the Church’s Sunday School, and four scrapbooks compiled by a long-standing member of the church containing numerous materials interfiled. These materials range in date from 1852 to 1950, and include Sunday school roll books, brochures, photographs, manuals, financial reports, lists of congregation members, notes on church history, service books, newspaper clippings and other miscellany.
Quantity: 0.75 linear feet (3 manuscript boxes)
Collection Number: MG 8

Historical Note

The High Street Presbyterian Church saw its beginnings in a small Sunday school founded by Mrs. Martha Dickerson and Miss Nancy Hunter in 1842, when these two women “…took pity on the unchurched children of the neighborhood and gathered them in private homes for teaching….” This school continued to grow until Mr. William Ketcham, a neighborhood carpenter, permitted the two women to house their school on the second story of his carpenter shop on Mercer Street. The school and the fledgling church went through several reincarnations until the High Street Presbyterian Church was organized on September 16, 1849, and the building-built for $43,252.01 on the corner of High and Court Streets-was dedicated on May 18, 1852. The first pastor of the church was Reverend Daniel W. Poor, the congregation consisted of eighty-five members, and the initial board of trustees included William Pennington, Aaron Coe, William Ketcham, Charles Taylor, and John R. Weeks.

Over the approximately ninety years the church was at the High Street home, the following pastors served the church: Dr. Daniel W. Poor, 1849-1869, Dr. J.H. McIlvaine, 1870-1887, Dr. Lewis Lampman, 1888-1906, Dr. Henry K. Denlinger, 1907-1909, Dr. John J. Moment, 1911-1918, Dr. Alexander Cairns, 1920-1925, and Dr. Alexander Barron, 1925-1926.

In 1926, the High Street Church consolidated with the Old First Presbyterian Church of Newark, founded in 1666. The church maintained their independent status and congregation, along with their own reverends, but fell under the care of the Old First pastors and administration from this point forward.

In 1945, the High Street Church building was sold to the Saint James A.M.E. Church, founded in 1900, and the High Street congregation transferred largely to the original Old First Church.

The architecture of the church is noted for its beauty and originality, as indicated by this quote from the 1884 History of Essex and Hudson Counties, “The walls are of brown stone, arranged in ornamental Gothic style, without any wood on the exterior except the doors, the window sills and frames being of stone, beautifully carved…. interior is pronounced to be one of the most elaborately finished churches in the State. The designs on the windows are entirely original, and were executed by a special artist employed for the purpose by the congregation. No two are alike, and the representations are true to nature.”

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Scope and Content Note

This collection consists of a record book of missionary efforts by the High Street Presbyterian Church in cooperation with the First German Church, a record book for the Church’s Sunday School, and four scrapbooks compiled by a long-standing member of the church containing numerous materials interfiled. These materials range in date from 1852 to 1950, and include Sunday school roll books, brochures, photographs, manuals, financial reports, lists of congregation members, notes on church history, service books, newspaper clippings and other miscellany. These loose items were removed from the scrapbooks, which was already disbound, and filed alphabetically by topic following the scrapbooks.

The materials document the founding members of the church, its finances over the years, the various church groups hosted by High Street, the social and fundraising events organized by these groups, the biographies of some of the prominent members of the congregation, the discussion surrounding various projected consolidations with other Newark Presbyteries (most of which did not occur), and many of the services and sermons delivered throughout the history of the church.

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Arrangement

This collection is arranged by format and chronologically therein. The materials in the scrapbook have been maintained in their original order.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions on this collection.

Photocopying of materials is limited and no materials may be photocopied without permission from library staff.

Use Restrictions

Researchers wishing to publish, reproduce, or reprint materials from this collection must obtain permission.

The New Jersey Historical Society complies with the copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code), which governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions and protects unpublished materials as well as published materials.

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Access Points

The entries below represent persons, organizations, topics, and forms documented in this collection.
Subject Names:
Barron, Alexander.
Cairns, Alexander.
Coe, Aaron.
Denlinger, Henry K.
Dickerson, Martha C.
Hunter, Nancy, fl. 1849.
Ketcham, William, fl. 1848.
Knapp, Wilhelmina A.
Lampman, Lewis.
McIlvaine, J. H. (Joshua Hall), 1815-1897.
Moment, John James.
Pennington, William, 1796-1862.
Poor, Daniel W.
Taylor, Charles, fl. 1852.
Weeks, John R.
Subject Organizations:
First Presbyterian Church (Newark, N.J.)
High Street Presbyterian Church (Newark, N.J.)
Sunday School of High Street Presbyterian Church (Newark, N.J.)
Subject Topics:
Church architecture.
Church history–19th century.
Church history–20th century.
Presbyterian Church–New Jersey–Newark.
Presbyterian Church–New Jersey–Newark.
Sunday school buildings.
Sunday school literature.
Sunday school teachers.
Subject Places:
Newark (N.J.)–Church history.
Newark (N.J.)–Historic houses, etc.
Document Types:
Church records.
Manuals.
Membership lists.
Photographs.
Rosters.
Scrapbooks.
Sermons.
Service books.
Subject Occupations
Clergy–New Jersey.

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Related Material

For related materials in print on the High Street Presbyterian Church, see:

Schnall, Kenneth B. (1965) “Nineteenth Century Churches of Newark” Ph.D. thesis, Newark.

For collections related to the High Street Presbyterian Church at the New Jersey Historical Society, see:

Manuscript Group 125, Joseph Black Papers

Manuscript Group 128, Alexander MacWhorter Daybook

For collections related to the High Street Presbyterian Church at other institutions, see:

Miscellaneous Church Records, 1841-1901, the Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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Administrative Information

Custodial History

Donated to the New Jersey Historical Society by Miss Wilhelmina A. Knapp.

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as: Manuscript Group 8, High Street Presbyterian Church Collection, The New Jersey Historical Society.

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Container List

Church Records

Box Folder Title Date
1 1 Mission of the High Street and First German Churches Treasurer Accounts: Receipts 1867-1870
1 2 The History and Records of the High Street Sunday School, 1847-1866 1867
1 3 Sunday School Roll Books 1885, 1906-1907
1 4 History of the Church Scrapbook, part I 1858-1944
1 5 History of the Church Scrapbook, part II 1858-1944
1 6 History of the Church Scrapbook, part III 1858-1944
1 7 History of the Church Scrapbook, part IV 1858-1944
1 8 History of the Church Scrapbook, part V 1858-1944
1 9 History of the Church Scrapbook, part VI 1858-1944
1 10 History of the Church Scrapbook, part VII 1858-1944
1 11 History of the Church Scrapbook, part VIII 1858-1944
1 12 History of the Church Scrapbook, part IX 1858-1944
1 13 History of the Church Scrapbook, part X 1858-1944
Box Folder Title Date
2 1 Camp Dennis and Camp Rosemartin: Playbills and Brochure 1936-1943
2 2 Church Buildings 1890-1942
2 3 Church Histories and Dedications 1891-1941
2 4 Concerts and Playbills 1895-1943
2 5 Congregation and Officers Lists 1882, 1924-1928
2 6 Correspondence and Communications 1906-1950, undated
2 7 Financial Documents: Treasurer’s Reports and Financial Solicitations 1885-1942
2 8 Manuals 1869-1907
2 9 Miscellany, including Mendelssohn Vocal Score 1908, undated
2 10 Newspaper Clippings, Magazines 1893-1949, undated
2 11 Photographs 1852-1936
2 12 Sermons 1890-1902
Box Folder Title Date
3 1 Service Books 1889-1923
3 2 Service Books 1924-1932
3 3 Service Books 1933-1944, undated
3 4 Service Books 1852-1918
3 5 Women’s Organizations: Daughters of the Church and the Women’s Board of Foreign Missions 1896-1943
3 6 Young Person’s Society of Christian Endeavor 1887-1928

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