Gloucester County Democrat., 1912-05-02
CHURCH CORNER STONE LAYIYe

The occasion of the laying of The
corner stone of the new Presbyterian
Church of Williamstown, n. T., last
Tuesday, though marred by unpro-,
pitious weather was well responded to-
by an attendance that filled the Town
Hall to it's utmost capacity. where
the exercises were held on account of
the weather. r.
After some appropriate introduc-
tory remarks by the pastor, Rev. Hen
ry Gaylord MeCool, Rev. ]. Calvin
Krause, a former pastor, made the
opening prayer, followed by anthem
Rejoice in The Lord" by the choir
under the leadership of Mr.. Norris.
Rev. Mr. Eby, of Blackwood, read the
chapter. Singing Building Day by
Day for Eternity" by a number of
girls from the Sunday school. A short
historical sketch of the old church
was given by Rev. J. G. Krause. The
church was organized in 1910 and
among the first members were John
and William Mcclure, William and
James Tweed and Benjamin Harding.
The first Elders were James Mcclure
and Benjamin Harding. The church
building was erected in 1841 leaving
a debt of $1,000. The organization was
effected by the Revs. c.. VanRansal-
eer, Dr. Janvier and S. B. Blithe.
Among the first supplies were Levi
Janvier Mr.. Bosworth, Rev. Mr..
Peck, and Rev. VIM. Mckay Smiley
The first settled pastor was the Rev.
Chas E. Ford, who was called April
1St, 1S43 He served the church for
25 years. He was a great believer in
the Westminster catechdsm and at
one time there was 40 child over II
years old whose parents were men,
berS of the church, who was not
member also, and every child was ex.
pected to memorize the Shorter Cate
chism He was followed by Rev. Mr..
Adams, Chester Bridgeman, Geo. H
Stewart Campbell, Alexander Scotland
and H. L. Janeway. During Mr..
Janeway's pastorate Robert Wilson,
one of the elders of the church, pur
chased house and lot of seven acres
of land which he donated to the
church, and at his death left the
church an endowment of $4,000.
Through the liberality of Mr.. Jane
way and popular subscription the
present manse was built and cleared
of debt. The next pastors were Rev 4
J. Alex Brown and Rev. J. Calvin
Krause, who was followed by the Rev.
Henry Gaylord McCool, the present
pastor, who is an energetic worker
and has increased the membership
over 100 per ent.
The clerks report of the financial
Situation is encouraging. The esti-
mated cost of the new church build
ing is about $4,000 and he reports
cash subscriptions $5,325. Building
Loan Assn, subscription $4,000
Gravel sold $3o5. With more to hear
from. 40
The eloquent address by the Rev.
DR.. Smiley, of the second Presbyter-
ian Church of Camden, was full of
good points, his theme being Self
Help His text was Ebenezer:
Hitherto Hath the Lord helped US.
Some of the points were 1.-THE only
living church is the working church"
God will provide if we help oursel~
YES, and only then; Call on God and
He will not deny" 1T us God who
giveth the victory, all other work IS
of no avail. .
{ An appeal for money was then made
by DR.. Smiley, and responded to quite
literally, about $500 being promised q
The congregation then adjourned to-
the site of the new church and pro-
ceeded with the formal laying of the
corner stone, sealed by the President
of the Board of Trustees James D.
Tweed, and by the Senior Elder, Hen
ry G. Bateman. The ceremony being
concluded by Rev. Mr.. A1cCool sealing
and consecrating the building to Al
mighty God.
Closing prayer by Rev. DR.. Smiley,
followed by the Doxology and the
Benediction by the pastor T.