Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1895-12-05
RICHEST CHURCH IN NEW YORK
$4,000 is the Average Collection on a
Communion sunday With Rev. Dr..
John Halls Millionaire Flock.

$4,000 is the Average Collection on a
Communion sunday With Rev. Dr..
John Halls Millionaire Flock.
Ihe Fifth avenue Presbyterian
Church, founded in 1898, is the richest
church in New YORK The collection
taken up on communion Sunday OF each
month averages not less than $4,000.
Checks Tor sums ranging from $1,000 10
S5,VUO are not uncommon.
On one Sunday in 1894 the plate had
$4,000 deposited in it.
Within the last five years the total
Of voluntary contributions for mission
work. church maintenance and miscel-
lane0us charities aggregated in excess
OF SJ50000.
Rev. DR.. John Hall, the pastor, re-
ceives a salary of $4,000 per annum,
which is swelled by presents from mill
lionaire members of his congregation,
by requests and fees, to an equal
amount.
In the magnificent mansion adjoin-
ing the church, which the members OF
the congregation built at cost OF $751;
600. The venerable minister lives in opu-
lence. and imported servants from the
north Of Ireland move about with stiff-
necked dignity.
Immediately after the supreme. court
last spring overthrow the income tax
DR.. Hall suggested that the wealthy lay
men Of the Presbytery contribute to thu
support OF the church's mission funds
the amount Of the cheks which they
had drawn to pay their tax. He fol-
lowed up the suggestion by sending TO
the mission board his own check for
$1,000. The inference was naturally
drawn that his income was $4,000.
The result was that such a flood OF
begging letters poured in upon him that
the good doctor was forced to write
card. DENYING that his income reached
any such figure, but the real amount he
did not state.
II Henry G. Marquand, John S. Ken
nedy. Robert Bonner, Charles Butler,
Norris K. Jesup, John Sloane, John j.
McCook. Alexander Maitland and other
millionaire members CT the congrega-
ton followed the doctors suggestion,
the contributions of this year will
surely exceed that Of 1894, when they
footed up S234,374.
A reporter attended the morning SER
wee in DR.. Halls church last Sunday.
The pews were we'll filled. There was
nothing striking about the appearance
of the congregation. The sobriety Of
the costumes worn by the women was
especially noticeable.
Rober. Bonner, DR.. Halls stanchest
friend passed out with his son, Robert
Edwin Bonner Dr. Halls fondness for
outdoor exercise caused him to fire.
uuently accept Mr.. Bonner's invitation
for a spin through the park behind
pair OF famous trotters. DR.. Hall has
more than once enjoyed the excitement
of flying trip over the road behind
Goldsmith Maid and Dexter.
Henry MarQuand the Millionaire
banker. rarely misses Sunday at
church. John and William Sloane, mil
liOnalre carpet dealers, related TO the
Vanderbilts by the marriage of Will
liam. with their families, have been
regular attendants for years.
Norris K. Jesup, the broker; Francis
Ieggett, the grocer; John S. Kennedy,
of Wall street; Robert Bliss, the banker;
William L. SkidmOre who is some
times called the Goal King" William
Campbell. the wool merchant; Henry B.
Barnes, the publisher, and William
Dulles. Jr., are other members of this
church who belong to the millionaire
class. Alexander Maitland, president
of a half dozen corporations, and James
A. Frame the builder, are noticed in
the Sunday crowd.
The widow and daughter Of Robert
Hoe, the printing press manufacturer,
are regular attendants. So are the wife
daughter and son of Calvin S. Brice,
millionaire Senator, Of Ohio and New
York. when they are in town. The Sen
ator is not on the church rolls. The
widow of PERCY Pyne, with her chill
dren. Is a regular commitment.
John J. McCook, H. Edwards Row
land and Silas B. Br0wnell, wealthy
lawyers. are elders in the church.
Andrew G.. Agnew, millionaire, his
wife two sons and daughter, and the
eight Agnews from Palisades, n. j.,
make quite a party as they file out to
their carriages. Mrs. Elizabeth Auch-
incloss. one of the wealthiest widows in
New York: Mrs. Edna J. Barger, Alfred
W. BcadlestOn, secretary Of the Beadle-
ston-Woerz Brewing Company; J. Will
liam Beekman, capitalist and lawyer;
POultney Bigelow, Birdseye Brakeman,
the pen manufacturer; Albert B. Board
man. the lawyer: Henry Barry BrittOn,
Mrs. Mary l. Burden, all persons Of
wealth. may be seen in the procession,
and Robert Chambers, a broker reputed
to be worth more than $4,000, 900; Mrs.
Hartman and the three Hartman jun
Tors may regularly be seen there.
James Low, capitalist and land own
er. worth more than a million; James
B. Lord, Even Mcintyre, George c.
Magoun. George Munro, whose dime
novels have reached a circulation of a
billion: Sarah NJ. Schieffelin, who is re-
lated to the Vanderbilts, and very
wealthy: Mrs. Elicit F. Shepard and
family. George p. Slade, Mrs. Alice A.
Stebbins. Robert Watson Stuart. Fran
els B. Thurber. Warner Van NOrden.
the Van Ransselaers. of East Thirty
fifth street. R. T. Wilson, the banker,
all people of wealth and social promi-
hence. are also regularly enrolled in
the membership OF the richest Presby
terrain Church in the United States
New York World.
A TRUTHFUL MAID.