Staten Island (Richmond County, NY) Genealogy

Staten Island, Richmond County, NY
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Genealogical Resources for Staten Island
Churches and Temples

New 18Jun2008: Ancestral Curios Vital Statistics. He says he has:

Port Richmond, S.I. baptisms 1696-1790
Moravian Church, S.I. marriages 1764-1863

among many other non-SI.

Church Notes

Reformed Dutch Church

Records of the Reformed Dutch Church in Tompkinsville by Royden Woodward Vosburgh (Partial)

Jewish

B'nai Jeshurun In 1884 Congregation B'nai Jeshurun, the Island's first Jewish congregation, is founded in Tompkinsville. After meeting without a formal synagogue for about seven years, the congregation moves into a building on what is now Victory Boulevard. In the 1970s, the congregation moves to its current location on Martling Avenue in West Brighton.

Roman Catholic

Bill has researched all the R.C. churches in Staten Island; gotten contact information and founding date. Staten Island Catholic Churches.

Sacred Heart Church was founded in 1875. Margaret Mullen typed up its Golden Jubilee program.
St. Peter's: In 1839 The Island's first Catholic parish, St. Peter's, is established in New Brighton, 50 years after the Roman Catholic Church is incorporated in the City of New York. The parish includes all of Richmond County and parts of New Jersey. The church building, dedicated 10 years after, is later destroyed by fire. The present St. Peter's Church is erected in 1903.

St. Paul's R.C. Church in New Brighton: Staten Island Advance Article "St. Paul's had its start as a mission of the Island's oldest Roman Catholic parish, St. Peter's R.C. Church in New Brighton." Founded 1924.

St. Mary's See below and it's been said:
It is a beautiful church. It is a shame that they are not more cooperative.
They will tell you that most of the old records were destroyed in a water damage, but, the original "big old book" survives. It lists per alphabet, per family name, per person.
St. Michael's in Mariners Harbor started keeping records in 1905 on. I have found that some of my St. Mary's parishioners married in St. Michael's. They are very helpful and will look up records for you via telephone.

Methodist and/or Episcopal Church

A page about Early Methodist History on Staten Island
from The Family Prayer book, or The Book of Common Prayer, and Administration of The Sacraments, and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, According to the Use of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America; Accompanied by A General Commentary, Historical, Explanatory, Doctrinal, and Practical: Compiled from the Most Approved Liturgical Works, with Alterations and Additions, and Accommodated to the Liturgy of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America
By Thomas Church Brownell, D.D. LL.D, Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of Connecticut
Philadelphia: Claxton, Remsen & Haffelfinger, 819 & 821 Market Street. 1868.
At the end is a list of subscribers to the book. Some were Staten Islanders and some might be. Unfortunately I cannot seem to access the names alphabetically past Churchill, but here's what I came up with:
Episcopalians in 1868
- Barker, John, Castleton, S. Island
- Barrett, Nathan, Castleton, S. I
- Bement, E., Castleton, S.I.
- Britton, Cornelius, Freshkills, S.I.
- Carter, Mrs., Port Richmond L. I. [???]
- Catlin, George, Tompkinsville, L. I. [???]
Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church was founded in 1802 in New Springville. No longer exists.

St. Paul's United Methodist Church, Amboy Road, Tottenville. Founded 1857 as an outgrowth of Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church. Rev. John S. Swaim became the first full-time pastor in 1860. Esther Paugh is church historian.

Summerfield United Methodist, Mariners Harbor. Founded 1839 on Harbor Road as Methodist Episcopal Church at Mariners Harbor. Moved 1869 as Summerfield Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1973 the church Historian, Charles V. Morris printed a 102 page booklet of the history of the church "The Tie That Binds". In 2003, 100 Harbor Road, Staten Island, 10303, Rev. Donald Goodson. Kathy says, "Summerfield no longer has their early records, but they were filmed by LDS."

Woodrow United Methodist Church: Francis Asbury, the first Methodist bishop ordained in America, came to Staten Island in 1771 as part of his 10,000-miles-on-horseback evangelistic mission. He preached at a home on Wood Row, now Woodrow Road.

St. Ann's Episcopal Church was founded in 1925 by Holy Comforter in Eltingville parishioners. They merged back in 1951 to become St. Alban's, but some St. Ann's parishioners went to St. Andrew's instead.
Moravian Church: Founded in Staten Island with New Dorp Moravian in 1763. The Moravian Church.

NEW! Moravian Marriages 1764-1863
NEW! Port Richmond Reformed Dutch Church Baptisms 1696-1790
Dutch Marriages 1790-1811

Castleton Hill founded 1873.

Great Kills started 1886.

New Dorp established 1763.

Vanderbilt Avenue Moravian Church: Founded in 1884 on Cedar Street. Initially German. Moved to Osgood Avenue 1889. Rev. E. S. Hagen installed as pastor Dec 29 1889. Moved from Osgood Avenue to Vanderbilt Avenue in 1927. Vanderbilt family worshipped here.

Lutheran

Trinity Lutheran Church, f.k.a The German Evangelical Church, in Stapleton, Staten Island,
(Thanks to Andrew Schmitt for this info)
is described in Staten Island And Its People, Volume I, page 490 (by Leng, Charles W. and
Davis, William T., 1929) as follows:

"The German Evangelical Church at Stapleton was incorporated February 17, 1857; the trustees were: Andrew Wohlrabe, Ernest F. Kortum, and Henry Uhrsbrach. Pastor Christian Hennicke had, during 1856, succeeded in organizing a congregation and was the first pastor. Services were suspended from October, 1867, to January 30, 1859, when Pastor K. Goehrling accepted a call and remained until October, 1869. In 1862 the board of trustees was reorganized with P. W. Caesar, Louis De Jonge, Julius De Jonge, D. Bauer, Carl Franke, F. Lenting, William Houff, C. Winzer, and Mr. Uhrsbrach. On February 5, 1865, Mr. De Jonge reported the acquisition, in part by the gift of Albin Warth, of land on which to build a church. The pastors have been:

Pastor Robert Karl Beer, 1869 to 1870.
Pastor E. Hering, 1871 to 1875.
Pastor A. Kuehne, 1875 to 1895.
Pastor A. Krause, 1895 to 1907.
Pastor F. Sutter, 1907 to date.

Among the family names connected with this church have been Lindemann, Meurer, Zentgraff, Siemer, Bardes, Stake, Schaefer, Wedemeyer, Wolf, Francke, Hagedorn, Herpich, Horrmann, Matthius, Schmidt, Zorn, Pape, Schaible and many more.

The growth of this church under the ministry of Pastor Frederic Sutter since 1907 has been remarkable; it is said to have 3,000 baptized members and 1,100 communing members, perhaps the largest Protestant membership on Staten Island. The present edifice, an imposing Gothic structure of yellow brick on Beach Street, was dedicated in 1914. The parish house contains classrooms, auditorium, gymnasium, bowling alleys, etc., virtually a community house for the members of the church. The parsonage, built in 1922, brings the value of the church property close to $300,000.

Among Pastor Sutter's aids in this great church, which is soon to change its name to Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, are H. Fry, Mr. and Mrs. E. C. Meurer, Mr. and Mrs. John Hagen, Carl Lorey, Charles Schaeffer, Dr. Fred Bock, and C. C. Stoughton."

N.B.: 1. In line 5, "were suspended from October, 1867, to January 30, 1859,"
is how this appears in the book. 2. Pastor Sutter is listed as being the Pastor from
1907 to date --take into account that this was printed in 1929.

Some of its records are transcribed at http://trinitylutheransiny.org/kirchenbuch/. Kirchenbuch is the German word for church book. Church books, or Kirchenbücher, are a Church's register of births, communions, confirmations, marriages, and deaths.
The Rev. Wilhelmus Jackson studied in Holland four years, and on returning to America was licensed in 1757 to preach, and was pastor of the Reformed Dutch churches of Bergen and Staten Island, 1757-1789. He died in 1813. He was noted as a powerful preacher, with a far-reaching voice, rivaling Whitefield as an open-air speaker.
from New Jersey Biographical Sketches, 1665-1800
Description:
One of the geographically smallest states in the Union, New Jersey was home to over 200,000 people in 1800. Originally published in 1916, this database is a collection of biographical sketches for prominent residents of the state between 1665 and 1800. It provides a variety of information, including residence, date and place of birth, names of children, value of estate, and important professional and personal accomplishments. Of particular interest, it provides genealogically helpful information regarding spouse, children, and ancestors. It contains information regarding nearly 7500 persons. For researchers of New Jersey ancestors, this can be a valuable source of information.
Extended Description:
Source Information:
New Jersey Historical Society. New Jersey Biographical and Genealogical Notes from the Volumes of the New Jersey Archives. Trenton, NJ: New Jersey Historical Society, 1916.
CLIFTON

Illustrated sketch book of Staten Island, New York : its industries and commerce 1886, page 137-8
ST. MARY'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
This parish and congregation was organized by Archbishop HUGHES in October. 1852, and Rev. J. LEWIS was appointed the pastor. Immediately after his appointment, Father LEWIS erected a temporary chapel and schools at a cost of about $6,000 which were used for five years.
In 1857, Archbishop HUGHES laid the corner stone of St. Mary's church on New York avenue, and the edifice was completed for following year at a cost of $58,000. it is the finest Catholic church on Staten Island. In 1858 and 1859 the rectory adjoining the church was built, costing $10,000.
Father LEWIS in 1862 purchased seven acres of land of the PARKINSON estate in Southfield, and laid it out as a cemetery. He also build upon it a neat cottage for the keeper's residence.
In 1864 an ORPHAN ASYLUM for the parish, a residence for the Sisters of Charity, a large school and a dwelling for the male teachers were built at a cost of about $36,000.

These schools are of the largest on the Island. The books show a daily attendance of nearly four hundred pupils who are gratuitously instructed by six Sisters of Charity, under the supervision of the pastor.

Churches in 1875

Source: 1875 State Census

Town	ED	Church Name	Denomination
Castleton	1	[the suppl. schedules were not filmed]
Castleton	2	Christ Church	Episcopal
Castleton	2	Unitarian Church	Unitarian
Castleton	2	Harbor Church	Methodist
Castleton	3	Saint Marys Castleton Av	P.E.
Castleton	3	Calvary Bement & Castleton Aves	Presbyterian
Castleton	3	Mission Chapel	Moravian
Castleton	4	St. Andrews Episcopal Church	[none listed - assume Episcopal]
Castleton	4	Trinity	Methodist Episcopal
Castleton	4	St. Peters	Roman Catholic
Middletown	1	St. Pauls Memorial Church	P.E.
Middletown	1	German Lutheran Church	Lutheran
Middletown	2	Free Church	M.E.
Middletown	3	United Bretherens Church	United Bretheren
Middletown	4	1st Presbyterian Church of Edgewater	Presbyterian
Northfield	1	Park[?] Baptist	Baptist
Northfield	1	1st Bobless[?]	Baptist
Northfield	1	Grace	Methodist Episcopal
Northfield	1	St. John	Evangelical Lutheran
Northfield	2	Church of St. Andrew	P.E.
Northfield	2	Asbury M.E. Church	Methodist Episcopal
Northfield	2	Travisville Chapel	Methodist Episcopal
Northfield	3	Summerfield M.E. Church	Methodist Episcopal
Northfield	3	Mariners Harbor Baptist Church	Baptist
Northfield	3	AME Zion Church	Methodist Episcopal
Northfield	4	Reformed Church (US)	Reformed Church
Northfield	4	St. Marys Roman Catholic Church	Roman Catholic
Southfield	1	Reformed P.[?] Richmond	Reformed Dutch
Southfield	1	Church of the Holy Comforter	P.E.
Southfield	1	[no name]	Roman Catholic
Southfield	2	St. Marys	Roman Catholic
Southfield	2	[illegible - possibly Presbyterian]	Roman Catholic
Westfield	1	St. Pauls M.E.	Methodist
Westfield	1	Bethel M.E.	Methodist
Westfield	1	First Baptist	Baptist
Westfield	2	St. Marks	Methodist Episcopal
Westfield	2	African M.E.	Methodist Episcopal
Westfield	2	Woodrow	Methodist Episcopal
Westfield	2	St. Josephs	Roman Catholic
Westfield	2	St. Lukes	_?_ Episcopal
Westfield	3	[none listed]
Mary the Immaculate Virgin	?	?	?

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