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Pages of interest to those researching their families in the Five Towns area of Nassau County.

Introduction

This is a reprint of a newspaper article, from an unknown paper, recounting the history of the Lawrence Methodist Episcopal Church from its founding in 1831 through the date of the article, in 1931.  To see the list of pastors click on the appropriate link.

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF PASTORS, 1831-1931

CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF PASTORS, 1831-1931

"CHURCH NEARS CENTURY OF SERVICE TO COMMUNITY"

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LAWRENCE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CONGREGATION PLANNING CELEBRATION NOVEMBER 15; ACTUAL ANNIVERSARY FALLS ON 29TH; WILL CONDUCT REVIVAL FOR TWO WEEKS

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Lawrence Methodist Episcopal Church, the Rev. Ernest J. Marvin, pastor will have completed the first century of its existence Sunday, November 29. Preparations are going forward for a fitting celebration of the event. Actual observance will be Sunday, November 15, when the Rev. Dr. Frederick M. Corson, Superintendent of the Brooklyn South District will be preach at the morning service.

            In the afternoon representations will be invited from the neighboring churches and the Rev. Dr. J. Milton Thompson, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, of Far Rockaway, will be the preacher. In the evening the speaker will be the Dr. Samuel W. Griffin, of White Plains. A musical program will be offered throughout the day under the direction of Mrs. Cecil MacDonald.

            As a preliminary to the celebration a two weeks revival will be conducted by the Rev. F.E. Rueckert of Illinois, widely known evangelist. It will begin Sunday and if circumstances warrant will be continued beyond the two weeks now scheduled.

            From 1784 to 1906 [sic] all societies and classes of the Methodist Church located on Long Island were included in one circuit. In the latter year the Island was divided into the Hempstead and the Suffolk Circuits. In 1837 another change was made through a division of the Hempstead circuit and the Rockaway circuit was formed to include Rockville Centre or the old Sandhole Church; Far Rockaway, now Lawrence! Foster's Meadow, and perhaps Bethel, Baldwin and Freeport.

            The first church in Lawrence was erected in 1831 on the same site where the chapel now stands. It had a plain, double pitch roof and a porch across the entire front of the building. The roof over the church was supported by four large pillars. The inside of the church was not at all ornate. A gallery was added to its seating capacity, and is well lighted by candles placed in front of tin reflectors along the walls.

            On November 12, 1831, a meeting of the male members of the society was held at the home of John Baylis for the purpose of constituting a board of trustees to this house of worship known then as McThendre's Chapel. John Abrams and Thomas Combs were designated to serve one year; Willett Craft and Samuel Doughty to serve two years, and Robert Carman and Edward Doughty to serve three years.

            In 1866 the original church building was razed and a new one begun under the supervision of John A. Wood. Excavations were made the foundation constructed, and the cornerstone laid during the Fall of that year. At the laying of the cornerstone the Rev. Edward G. Andrews, late Methodist Episcopal Bishop, presided and was assigned by the Rev. George L. Taylor and the Rev. Stephen Rushmore. The church was not completed until about two years later when the Rev. C.F. Corner was pastor.

            In 1870 a committee was appointed to take charge of the construction of a parsonage on the property across the street from the church. Th work was completed at a cost of about $2,500.00 and the house was occupied in 1871 by the Rev. E.K. Fanning and family. In later years this building was remodeled several times until about three years ago it was sold and a new parsonage built on Mulry Lane; a fine modern cottage is now occupied by the present pastor and his family, the Rev. Ernest J. Marvin.

            In the fall of 1906 the Official Board of the church voted in favor of erecting a new church auditorium adjoining the old church and to use the former church for the purposes of Sunday School, the Epworth League and the recreation needs of the church. Within a few months this work was in progress and the building at Mulry Lane and the Turnpike [Rockaway Turnpike] was completed. Bishop Edward G. Andrews dedicated it on Sunday, December 29, 1908.

            Some of the especially attractive features of this church ore the artistic memorial windows. The two large double windows, 10 by 25, represent four scenes from the Hoffman's famous paintings of the life of Christ: "Christ and the Dootors," Christ Blessing Little Children" Christ in Gethsemane," and "The Resurrection."

            The list of pastors who have quided the Lawrence M.E. Church through its 100 years of work includes: The Reverends Geshom Pearse and Richard Wymond, 1831; Noah Bigelow, 1832-33; B. Sillick and E. Jagger, 1834-35; J. Law and J. N. Shaffer, 1836; Humphrey Humphries, 1837-38; J.B. Matthias, 1839-40; Theron Osborn, 1841-42; John J. Matthias, 1843; Henry Hatfield, 1844-45; David Holmes, 1846-1847; Timothy C. Young, 1848-49; E.O. Bates, 1850-51; J.W.B. Wood, 1852-53; J.W. Klug, 1854-55; J.D. Boughton, 1856-57; J.M. Terry, 1858-59; W. B. Webster 1860; B. Goodsell, 1861-62; E.S. Hubbard, 1863-1864; T.M.Terry, 1865-67; C.P. Corner, 1868-70; E.K. Fanning , 1871-73; S.F. Johnson, 1874-75; R.S. Putney, 1876-77; W.W. McGuire, 1878-79.

            In the year 1880 the appointment became known officially as "Lawrence," and from that date to the present the list of pastors includes: the Reverends John W. Simpson, 1880-81; O.C. Lane, 1882-83; W. Ross, 1884-85; George Dunbar, 1886-88; W.W. Gillies, 1889-91; S. H. Smith, 1892-94; W.E. Scofield, 1895-96; James Coote, 1897-1900; Thomas L. Poulson, 1901-03; Geo. C. Boswell, 1904; W.S. Winans, 1905; John J. Foust, 1906-1908; Saul O. Curtis, 1909; J.W. Johnson, 1910; Olin B. Coit, 1910-12; W.W. Carnes, 1913-15; Henry Blatz, 1916-1918; M.O. Lepley, 1919-21; Ernest W. Neumann, Jr., 1922-26.

            The Rev. Ernest J. Marvin, who became pastor of the Lawrence M.E. Church in 1926 still occupies the pulpit, having been recently recalled for another year. A study of the foregoing record will show that he has been pastor of the church for the longest term in the whole one hundred years of its existence. Pastor Marvin came to Lawrence from the Fennimore Street Methodist Episcopal Church in Brooklyn, and prior to that served the Connecticut pulpits. During his Lawrence pastorate he and his family have endeared themselves to members of the congregation and to their neighbors generally, and in the recall of Pastor Marvin for his seventh year as pastor of the church, one sees a new record established at the Lawrence M.E. Church with the beginning of its second century.

            The different organizations of the Lawrence M.E. Church are: Sunday School, Cecil C. MacDonald, principal of the Lawrence High School, Superintendent; Epworth League, William Woolsey, Jr. of Cedarhurst, president; Junior Epworth League, Mrs. Earnest J. Marvin, wife of Pastor Marvin, superintendent; Women's Foreign Missionary Society, Mrs. William Evans of Cedarhust, president, and the Ladies Aid Society, Mrs. J. Frank Smith of Inwood, president.

            The latter organization is made up of three separate groups: The Lawrence Group, Mrs. Edward Hicks of Lawrence, chairman; the Cedarhurst Group, Mrs.David Vandewater of Cedarhurst, chairman, and the Inwood Group, Mrs. J. Frank Smith of Inwood Chairman.  

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF PASTORS OF THE LAWRENCE M.E. CHURCH

1831-1931

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LIST OF PASTORS OF THE LAWRENCE M.E. CHURCH BY YEARS SERVED

1831-1931

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