CHAPTER TWO

- ONE CHURCH OR TWO -

       On the afternoon of April 19, 1914 the Reverend Philip C. Pearson, the Rector of Christ Church, made his way to the Ho-Ho-Kus Chapel for the regularly scheduled Sunday service. Unbeknownst to the congregation, he was planning to make a dramatic announcement. The position of Curate at Christ Church was to be eliminated owing to the financial condition of the Parish and this would make it impossible for the clergy to cover the services at St. Bartholomew's. His plan was to provide paid lay readers to conduct the service. Mr. Pearson's announcement caused an immediate reaction among the membership. Not wishing to be serviced by lay readers only, St. Bartholomew's organized to become a full fledged Parish. Within a week a canvass of the membership secured 48 pledges totaling $1178.40. With this show of support the Bishop and the standing committee of the Diocese were approached on July 1^st with the proposal that St. Bartholomew's become a Parish. Permission was granted unanimously and Bishop Lines gave formal canonical consent on September 14, 1914.

       The newly formed Vestry led by its first wardens, W. C. Jesty and F. K. Trask, set to work upon the most pressing concern, namely, to secure a Rector. Several candidates were considered including the Reverend C. A. Thomas of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. He, however, set down certain conditions for worship, which the Vestry found unacceptable. These were the days of the High Church, Low Church controversies and he was too High Church. Mr. Pearson of Christ Church highly recommended the Reverend Robert J. Thomson of Dover, New Jersey and after traveling to hear him preach the Vestry extended a call to him on September 30th. He accepted the call, resigned his position at St. John's, and began work on November 11th. Obviously, procedures for filling vacancies were much simpler then. The Reverend Robert J. Thomson served as Rector for the next 15 years until his death in 1929.

       Mr. Thomson assumed leadership during turbulent times. The War of the Nations, as it was called, engaged the attention of the world during the first years of his tenure and this was followed by the world's financial markets' collapse during the closing years. In between, the influenza epidemic killed millions world wide and new forces of revolution and social change emerged. The records of the Parish from this period give little indication of these events, however. The Parish did invest in War Bonds during and after the conflict and a Lieutenant Darque spoke at the first meeting of the Men's Club on April 20th, 1915. He had just returned from the Philippines where he had served in the Army Aviation corps. Four other members of the Parish also served in World War I, the brothers Bartholomew and Jesse Jackson and Arthur and Nicholas Whritenour. Ho-Ho-Kus itself must have been full of talk about the war since the Fair Grounds were used to quarter horses from the mid-west, which were en route to France. The great epidemic receives even less notice. Unfortunately, the burial records from the period have been lost and the Vestry minutes yield only one reference dated October 7th, 1918. It reads, "Mr. Thomson reported that under instructions from the Board of Health all church services had been discontinued." Yet it does not appear that either the services or other Parish activities were greatly interrupted.

       Larger issues may have been engaging the attention of the world in those years, but St. Bartholomew's had its own pressing concerns. The first concern was to secure a more suitable site for the church. Christ Church had purchased Orville Victor's claim to the Schoolhouse for $300 when the Mission Association was formed. Their rights were transferred to St. Bartholomew's at the time of the Incorporation for the sum of one dollar. The issue of the actual title to the property was always most difficult. Mr. Victor's claim was for thirty years and would expire in 1931. The original title listed no less than 13 directors of the Educational Association. Some had died by 1914 others were impossible to locate. Thus, the Vestry thought it expedient to relocate and in 1918 purchased land on Franklin Turnpike between Sycamore and Elmwood Avenues for the sum of $4,350. This would have been an ideal location since the Turnpike was heavily trafficked before the construction of Route 17. Plans were drawn for the construction of a new building though they were never realized. A new Rectory was built on the site in 1924 at a cost of $9,000.

       The reason a church was never built on the site can be readily explained. In 1916 Mr. Thomson had agreed with the Reverend Edwin Carson, the new Rector of Christ Church, that the area known as Upper Ridgewood, which was beginning to develop, would be included within the bounds of St. Bartholomew's Parish. Parishioners were much more conscious of Parish boundaries before the automobile became the common mode of transportation. A number of families from Upper Ridgewood were attending and supporting St. Bartholomew's. No doubt these two communities were not so easily wed. The problems were compounded by the lack of adequate facilities in Ho-Ho-Kus. Many activities like the Sunday School and guild meetings were carried on in the homes of Upper Ridgewood parishioners while similar activities were being conducted in Ho-Ho-Kus. An adequate church building and Parish House might have solved these problems, but money was tight during the war years. If a church were to be built it would require the generosity of the wealthier members of the Parish. One such member, Herbert Ten Broeck Jacquelin, was approached concerning the Franklin Turnpike site. He was a partner in one of the oldest firms on Wall Street, Jacquelin and De Cappet, and served on the Board of Governors of the Exchange in 1923. He and his wife Zillah, who was the daughter of the president of the Northern Pacific Railroad, had moved to town in 1900 and had built a fine home by the road that bears his name. Zillah, incidentally, took an interest in historic properties and saved both the Joe Jefferson House and the Mansion House from destruction by purchasing them when they were in disrepair and threatened with demolition. Early in 1922 the Vestry invited Herbert Jacquelin to underwrite a large part of the proposed new building. He declined.

       This left the way open to the residents of Upper Ridgewood. At the February Vestry meeting Albert Leonhard, who was one of the wardens, offered to give a tract of land on Fairmount Road plus a sizeable sum toward a building fund if a chapel would be built there. The decision was made to build and the work was greeted with enthusiasm in Upper Ridgewood. Work began in June 1922 and was sufficiently completed by the following June to hold a service of dedication. The chapel was named St. Elizabeth's in memory of Mr. Leonhard's wife, Elizabeth. The total cost of the chapel and its furnishings was about $45,000. Thus, in June 1923 St. Bartholomew's Parish consisted of a church on Hollywood Avenue in Ho-Ho-Kus and a chapel on Fairmount Road in Upper Ridgewood. Mr. Thomson divided his time between the two.

       The building of the chapel did arouse considerable anxiety in Ho-Ho-Kus as might be expected. A special committee of the Vestry was appointed in 1923 to examine the possibilities of further extension of the work in Ho-Ho-Kus. But with the population in town slightly fewer than 600 conditions hardly warranted it. Recommendations were made, however, aimed at enhancing the functioning of the Parish as a whole rather than as separate units. Much like a single cell dividing into two with each pursuing its own life, the Church and the Chapel had effectively split and it proved impossible to keep them together. Church and Chapel had separate guilds, the Rector conducted separate Sunday Schools, and separate services which with the assistance of a paid lay reader. For three years the Parish continued in this artificial unity until in 1926 the members of St. Elizabeth's petitioned the Vestry of St. Bartholomew's to become a separate Parish. The Vestry consented and sold the property to the newly formed corporation for the sum of one dollar. They also transferred to it the outstanding indebtedness on the property of $5,000. On January 1, 1927 St. Elizabeth's became an independent Parish. At the time Mr. Thomson listed 154 members for St. Bartholomew's and 170 members for St. Elizabeth's. Financially, St. Elizabeth's was the stronger of the two and the value of its plant and property was greater. Mr. Thomson continued as the Rector of St. Bartholomew's and the Reverend Charles Armstrong was called to be the first Rector of St. Elizabeth's Church. With St. Elizabeth's forging its own destiny the membership of St. Bartholomew's turned to contemplate their future. In addition to Mr. Thomson very active and devoted families ably led the Church. We mentioned the De Vores previously but the Brown family also deserves notice. Alfred Brown served as Warden and Vestryman during these years and his wife Emily, would in future years, serve as organist. Their children, too, were active in the Parish, singing in the choir and serving in other capacities. Their son Alan would, in his turn, serve on the Vestry. With such committed lay people it was felt the Church would have a future but what that future might look like was still in doubt.

       Title to the Hollywood Avenue property remained unresolved. Thus it seemed expedient to move the Church building to the property on Franklin Turnpike. Indeed, this had been under discussion ever since the property was first purchased. Just as this plan was about to be decided upon a new proposal was made. Estelle Howland sent a letter to the Vestry in October 1927 offering the deed to the property on Sheridan Avenue in lieu of a financial contribution provided that building would commence on the site by January 1st, 1931. Could it be that she had grown weary of the Vestry's inability to set a course? Whatever her motive, her donation with its conditions did determine the future for St. Bartholomew's. The Vestry now had to choose between the options of raising funds or selling property in order to finance construction on Sheridan Avenue. The Diocese was opposed to the sale of property for a very good reason. Ho-Ho-Kus was growing. The developer Harold Cheel had begun to buy land and put up houses in anticipation of the commuters who would drive into Manhattan over the George Washington Bridge which was scheduled to open in 1931. By 1930 the population of Ho-Ho-Kus had grown to 925. The Diocese was convinced that the land on Franklin Turnpike would escalate in value and encouraged the Vestry to hold on to it. This left the option of raising funds within the Parish but before much was accomplished towards this end, Mr. Thomson died on October 4th, 1929 at the age of 68. Fifteen years before he had come to Ho-Ho-Kus to firmly establish a fledgling church. Unwittingly, he established two churches, St. Elizabeth's in Upper Ridgewood and St. Bartholomew's in Ho-Ho-Kus. After having served faithfully so many years he was greatly mourned.

Daniel W. Kreller, Kreller@aol.com