As a special recognition for our 275th anniversary year in 2000, Jane Bogert, a long time member of Old Paramus, wrote a series of articles for The Spire, our church newsletter. The series gave a unique perspective to our rich and colorful history. We have gathered all ten parts of the series and have placed them here in our history section for your edification and enjoyment.

     All such rites took place in the homes, or barns when more space was needed, as the building of settlements in new lands did not immediately produce funds for a church structure. The first church at Paramus was not build until 1735.

Part 2

     The euphoria on the arrival of the first minister to the Peremis congregation in 1725 was of short duration as the Rev. Erickzon moved on in 1728. Three years later, the Rev. George W. Mancius accepted the call to Schroelenboerg and Peremis but stayed only one year before moving to Kingston, New York. In the meantime, in 1730, the congregation received a gift of fifty acres "for a church at Peremis" from Peter Fauconier, one of the landowners of the vast Ramapo Tract. It now seemed time for the church to be built and on January 15, 1734, a meeting was held to draw up regulations for use of the church, which was probably completed by the winter of 1735. Neither plans nor descriptions of this first building have survived beyond the fact that the people sat on ladderback chairs (their own), they were scantily warmed by hot bricks held in "foot warmers', and the church was constructed of native brown sandstone.

Part 3

     The early 1735 church was constructed as a group effort. Each member contributed according to his means or skills. Some gave wood cordage and/or nails, or wagon loads of stone, with masons volunteering as splitters. Fencing grates, glass and even cloth were provided as well as promised hours of labor by members or their family's slaves. Paramus soon had a church but no minister until Rev. Benjamin Van Der Linde accepted the call in 1748 to serve the congregations of the Ponds (Oakland) and Peremis. The consistory of Paramus assured Dominie Van Der Linde a yearly salary of sixty pounds (about $150) and "a good and suitable parsonage house" for which he would preach four Sundays at Paramus and the fifth at the Ponds. During his 43 years of service, until 1789, it became Rev. Van Der Linde's fate to serve the church throughout the turbulent years of the American Revolution. Those years truly were, as Thomas Paine said, "The Times That Try Men's Souls."

Part 4

     When the Revolutionay War Swept into New Jersey, the strategic location of our church, beside the Albany-New York Post Road and a County crossroad, made it a focal point for a great deal of activity. Old Paramus was established as a military outpost, manned at times by troops from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, local militia and, after a losing skirmish, by British soldiers.

     Local folklore claimed that the church had served as barracks, hospital, prison and, records prove, as a court house for the trial of General Charles Lee for disobedience of orders at the Battle on Monmouth. As a battle was about to begin in Morristown, General Washington requested the court, "to adjourn to Pyramus Church which will be immediately in the route of the army." Many notable generals were witnesses at the trial, including Lt. Colonel Alexander Hamilton.

     General Washington's itinerary included two days at Paramus during 1778 and 1780. There are twenty-seven letters signed by him in the Library of Congress with the heading "Paramus". (Wouldn't it be nice to believe the church might even have been used for worship services during his time here?)

Part 5

     When the Revolutionary War finally drew to a close, the joy of victory was somewhat nullified at the old church at Paramus by the damage the building sustained as a result of the varied activities it had housed during the battle-torn years. A rebuilding was agreed upon as necessary, and each pew owner was levied eight shillings (about $2) toward the cost. Any owners who failed to pay in full had their seats forfeited to the church!

     At the same time, during the waning years of the eighteenth century, the needs of people within the neighborhood were changing. The portion of the Paramus membership living in Saddle River organized in a second, wooden church six miles north of Paramus to accommodate the scattered congregation, but the church remained within the Paramus administration: two consistories acting as one body. Another remote portion of the congregation living in the Ramapo/Mahwah area also requested, "liberty and aid to be established into a church." In 1795, the Ramapo "Island" Church was built in Mahwah.

Part 6

     When it was determined that a substantial repair of the old church was essential, it soon became apparent that a completely new building was the most advisable course to follow, Thus in 1800 the beloved and serviceable old church was torn down. Many of the stones were saved for incorporation in the new structure, and the new (and present) church was completed by September 2, 1800. The recorded cost of the church, including "a new barn built at the parsonage", was $6,600 in New York currency of that time. The church bell, still ringing regularly, was purchased with "surpluss money" and bears the inscription: "Thomas Mears, London 1800".

     The mortal remains of the Reverend Benjamin Van Der Linde were placed beneath the pulpit. He had spent 35 years serving the people of Paramus and Ponds Church in Oakland. At the end of the stressful years of his ministry during the Revolutionary War, he had reached the age of 74 - worn out and war-weary. He died in 1799, just a year before completion of the new church, and with his death, the Ponds became a separate congregation.

Part 7

     In 1800, with the new church, a new Pastor was a vital need, and the congregation was fortunate to have their call accepted by the Reverend Wilhelm Eltinge, a young man 21 years old from Kingston, New York. Later, he was described as, "a man of great firmness and decision - a pointed preacher who neither courted the favor nor feared the frowns of men," a characterization of value during his 51 years of service at Paramus. An early controversy arose in 1811 over an on-going language dispute between the use of the habitual "Jersey Dutch" or English in the pulpit. Proficient in both languages, Reverend Eltinge planned to preach one service in Dutch and another in the afternoon in English, "to meet the taste and education of the rise in generation," and the uproar was on. Reverend Eltinge resigned, and the pro-Dutch Saddle River members legally separated from the Paramus Church, followed by the members from Pascack, to form their own Reformed Churches. Paramus promptly recalled Dominie Eltinge to its pulpit where he served for 40 more years, traveling back and forth from his farm in Totowa, and presumably delivering his sermons in English.

     Reverend Eltinge now lies in the minister's plot of Valleau Cemetery across from the church he served so long and so well.

Part 8

     Following the 50 year ministry of Dominie Eltinge, the Reverend Aaron Winfield served less than six yars, dur to his frail health, But it was still a significant period of growth. Late in the 1840s, the completion of the Paterson and Ramapo Railroad opened the historically isolated area to new people, products, ideas and values. These changes led to church improvements such as shutters on windows, horse sheds, carpeting, a new communion set of Britainiewaire, and even the singer's seats were cushioned. The church maintained its own hearse for funerals, and the positions of undertaker and chorister were combined. The congregation listed 167 families with 105 in Sabbath School. Probably the most notable of Reverend Winfield's sermons was the one in which he concluded by giving a history of the church at paramus, "so that you may tell it to the generation following."

     The next pastor to serve was the Reverend Edwin T. Corwin, who came to Paramus in 1857. A number of structural repairs and enhancements to the building took place during the next six years: two new doorways, new pews installed, entire flooring replaced gallery raised to proper level and, "for the comfort of the choir", a dozen armchairs purchased. Dr. Corwin also laid out and opened Valleau Cemetery.

     Years of dissension during the Civil War between pro and anti-slavery factions within the congregation became so vitriolic that Dr. Corwin, failing in conciliation attempts, requested a dissolution of his pastoral relations.

     Dr. Corwin, a gifted scholar, compiled and published his first "Manual of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church" while at Paramus, thus establishing his place as the most distinguished historian of the Reformed Church in America.

Part 9

     Following Reverend Corwin's resignation, the Reverend Isaac S. DeMund accepted the call in 1864 to become the pastor of the church at Paramus. Upon his arrival, he found the church members participating in an apparently endless controversy over pew ownership and the payment of assessments levied against each owner to pay for the minister's salary and repairs and upkeep of the church. Since the construction of the building in 1800, some pews lad lost responsible owners, and some new owners failed to honor the assessment, thus leading to a badly depleted church treasury.

     Reverend DeMund was a competent preacher whose sermons were carefully prepared, Biblical, instructive and impressively delivered. He was known within and beyond the denomination for his patriotic sermon on the death of Zachary Taylor and his notable, "Lamentation on the Death of Abraham Lincoln." However, like his predecessor, he found that, "the irritated state of many dissenting members of the congregation made it impossible to preserve harmony or hope for spiritual results," and in 1870 he resigned. In spite of his short six-year term at Old Paramus Reformed Church, he left a special legacy to the present-day membership: his great granddaughter, Margaret DeMund Banta (Peg), and her son Raymond, with his family, Anne, Megan and Raymond.

Part 10

     The Reverend Goyn Talmage served as Pastor from 1871 to 1879, a period of laying to rest much of the former dissension within the congregation and of a renovation and rebuilding of the church to its present Victorian style. The steeple was restored, new windows and new pews installed, and the galleries lowered. Pew ownership, the cause of so much previous controversy, was replaced by pew rental, which became highly favored. During this period of growth, a large new parsonage was built, and the former "Union Hall" ( a community meeting place in Ridgewood) was purchased and moved to the church grounds where it was converted into a chapel for Sunday School, dinners, Fairs,and meetings. A significant recognition of the female contribution led to the formation of the Ladies' Aid Society. Both, of course, were ancestors of today's Women's Guild of the Reformed Church.

     After the departure of Reverend Talmage, the church progressed serenely and successfully under the guidance of the Reverend John C. Vandeventer, who was succeeded by the Reverend Dr. William H. Vroom, who would lead into the turn of the century. As the 20th century approached, it was decided that music should be more prominent in the service. Mrs. Elizabeth Blauvelt had presented the church with a handsome pipe organ with the understanding that a suitable place would be prepared for it. Thus in 1892, a brick extension was added to the west wall of the church to hold the organ and seating for the choir.

     In 1907, the Reverend Henry Cook came to Paramus upon graduation from seminary and served well and for 45 years, second only to the 1799-1850 term of Reverend Eltinge. A scholarly gentleman, Reverend Cook was a pioneer in establishing the Paramus Historical and Preservation Society as a subsidiary group within the church. Some now in the congregation knew Reverend Cook, and many more remember the Reverends Babinsky, Staver, and DeBie, so this final edition of "Notes From the Past" will end before any of us become historical characters.

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