When Pastor Daniel Meeter joined Old First in 2001, he had read in one of the church’s histories that there existed an antique communion cup (Avondmaalsbeker in Dutch. Avondmaal means Lord’s Supper). It’s whereabouts: unknown. Pastor Meeter asked around, but nobody had heard of it or even seen it. A true mystery. “I saw a picture of a former pastor from 40 years ago holding one,” […]
Yesterday on our 364th Anniversary, we enjoyed the presence of Old First’s Staten-Bÿbel or States-Bible. One of the heirlooms of Old First’s history, it’s a massive book. Our copy was printed in the city of Dordrecht in 1737. A States-Bible is the Dutch equivalent of the King James version, and it was first published in 1621 by order of the Netherlands’ States-General (the Staten-General for which Staten Island is […]
Charles Leech Gulick was at Old First for such a short period with few mentions in the Brooklyn papers, I thought that I would need to include his story together with another organist, for lack of information. I was wrong – his life after Old First was a rich one. Gulick lived entirely for music – studying, composing and performing – and was well-known nationally […]
Curious who wrote the Polytechnic Institute alma mater? Our fourth organist, William Gardiner Hammond, was a highly successful musician and composer, well-connected and well-known during his lifetime. William Gardiner Hammond, was born Melville, Long Island, August 9, 1874, to parents George Tillinghast Hammond and Mary Elizabeth Shipman. His father was from an old Rhode Island family with Quaker ties, his mother from Long Island City, […]
William Gardiner Hammond was a composer as well as organist and choirmaster at Old First (1903-1912). He formed one of the early musical groups to hold concerts in our Carroll Street building, the Hammond Choral Society. Performances such as these were the forerunners of what Arts at Old First has become today. As a young man, William accompanied singer Lillian Nordica, America’s first home-grown diva. She […]
After the departure of Old First’s second organist, Cuban patriot and revolutionary Rafael Navarro, Old First employed Henry E. H. Benedict for eight years. Benedict’s story also ended as front page news. This is the fourth part of an ongoing series. The third organist at Old First was Henry E. H. Benedict. Born in Canada in 1859, he was named Henry (or Harry) Emerson Benedict, […]
A true man of the world, Navarro navigated the music scene as conductor, organist, composer, director of the Brooklyn Academy of Music – all while still serving his country of origin. This is the third part of an ongoing series. Rafael Navarro: Musician and Revolutionary First Reformed stepped up its game with the hiring of Rafael Navarro in May of 1893. A news item at […]
As the congregation eagerly anticipated moving into a grand, new building, the 1891 Easter service was held in our upper hall, with the sanctuary still under construction. This is the second part of an ongoing series (read Part 1 here). The first mention of an organist that I found for our church was in The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, which named H. C. Meserole, a local, […]
Our church historian, Jane Barber, has compiled a comprehensive chronicle of our amazing pipe organ, and the intriguing people who have played it. We plan to share with you a serialized version of that story, starting with this introduction and overview. More to come! The organ. It was a big part of our worship life in what now feels like a long time ago. Built […]
“One of the contractors who put a bid on the ceiling restoration said to me, ‘this church has secrets still to be discovered.’” That quote from Pastor Daniel Meeter confirmed what we had suspected all along. Our sanctuary chandelier is as mysterious as it is beautiful, with a hazy, unclear past. “We don’t know who made it,” Pastor Meeter says. “We don’t know when it […]