Page 3

PREFACE

   I have put myself to great pains to gather facts for this little book. 
I have made many trips to New York and Philadelphia looking up data. I 
have visited Camden, N. J., and Rossville, Staten Island, for the same 
purpose. I have gone over the grounds in the lower part of New York which 
were the scenes of Varick's endeavors. I have been at great pains to study 
the features and intellectual calibre of the Varick family, that our 
church might know something about the family of the man whose name means 
so much to our Zion Methodism. I have undertaken the work too, not because 
I felt that I could do it so well, but because I felt I was in position, 
living near New York city, to do it with less trouble than persons living 
far away from that city. Then I felt that if it were not attempted soon, 
the last link connecting the present generation with primitive Zion 
Methodism would be broken. Then, too, I felt that my close study of this 
work, years before I thought of putting the result of my labors on the 
subject in book form, put me in position to do the work with less trouble 
than some one who had not previously made a study of the matter. All my 
research after facts was more of a pleasure to me than a mere sense of 
duty. It may be plainly noticed that I have not tried to write a history 
of the A. M. E. Zion Church. That has been well done by eminent fathers of 
the church. It has been my aim merely to give a brief account of each 
member of the Varick family. In performing this task of love I am indebted 
to the following persons for valuable information:

   1. Mrs. Jane Finch, of Camden, N. J., who was 

Page 4

a playmate of Varick's children. She died two or three years ago. 
Notwithstanding her extreme old age, her mind was clear to the last. She 
was a great lover of Zion Church, and had spent practically all her long 
life in the church.

   2. Doctor William Howard Day, who was baptized by James Varick 
immediately after the church was erected at the corner of Church and 
Leonard streets, New York city. Young Day was but a young boy of six or 
seven summers at that time, but he distinctly remembered when his mother 
led him to the altar to have him baptized by this sainted James Varick.

   3. Mrs. Aurelia Jones, great grandchild of James Varick. She lives in 
Philadelphia (now 1900), and has all the family history at her tongue's 
end.

   4. Miss Evelyn Varick, of New York, who is also a great grand-daughter 
of James Varick.

   5. Mr. Walter B. Warren, of Brooklyn, N. Y., also a grandchild of the 
great James Varick.

   6. Mr. Oliver Cromwell, of Ithaca, N. Y., also a grandson of James 
Varick.

   I have been helped also by Bishop Rush's "Rise and Progress of the 
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church."

   If now the Church and the world will be led to a better appreciation of 
the work of James Varick by the information contained in this little book, 
I shall be highly pleased and sufficiently rewarded for my labors.

B. F. WHEELER.

September 13, 1906. 
Mobile, Ala. 



Page 5

CHAPTER I. 
THE GREAT NEGRO MOVEMENT TO ESTABLISH A NEW CHURCH.

   James Varick, the founder and first Bishop of the African Methodist 
Episcopal Zion Church, occupies a peculiar place in the history of the 
Negro race in America. He was destined by Providence to do more for the 
development of the Negro's religious life in America than any Negro who 
had lived before him. He was to lead a few devout men and women out of the 
John Street Methodist Episcopal Church, New York city, to establish an 
independent local church for members of his race, which local church soon 
leaped the bounds of localism to be formed into a denomination, which has 
grown to be one of the great religious bodies of the world. Beginning with 
these few members, not more than two or three dozen, it now numbers its 
members by the hundred thousands, and is an important factor in the 
prosecution of the work of the Christian religion among the inhabitants of 
the earth.

   This step was taken calmly and dispassionately and after all efforts to 
secure the rights and privileges of free men and free women in the church 
from which they were about to withdraw, had been exhausted. The church to 
which he and his faithful followers belonged was made up principally of 
white people, but there was a goodly number of colored people among them. 
Among these colored people were some who felt that God had called them to 
preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They 

Page 6

took the usual course in such matters and made their requests known to the 
authorities of the church. But license to preach was denied them, and this 
became their first grievance. They had other difficulties in the church 
such as being compelled to wait when the sacrament of the Lord's supper 
was served until the white members were first served. They found it 
impossible to be true to their manhood and remain in this church and 
submit to these indignities. They realized, however, that in starting out 
to purchase or erect a house of worship of their own, with their own 
poverty staring them in the face, and the prejudice of their white 
brethren against them, their pathway was beset with many discouragements 
and obstacles. But they had the spirit of true and determined men, and so 
took the step. And the marvellous success that has attended the movement--
the ingathering into Christ's fold of hundreds of thousands of precious 
souls--is the best evidence of the wisdom of taking the step. But they had 
no bitter words for their brethren from whom they separated--for they 
loved them. They could not do otherwise, for it was through the efforts of 
these white Methodists in John Street Church that Varick and his followers 
were led to God. The Methodist Episcopal Church at the time that Varick 
and his followers withdrew from it was a victim of circumstances. African 
slavery had produced its sickening effects all over the country, in Church 
and State. And the Methodist Episcopal Church, like all other churches at 
the time, had been influenced by it. They did not persecute 

Page 7

their colored brethren, however--they simply denied them certain rightful 
privileges which were accorded to white brethren. But this the colored 
brethren did not think they could stand and at the same time work out for 
themselves that high destiny which God holds out to all men and women who 
serve Him aright. The Methodist Episcopal Church was more generous in its 
treatment of the black members of the church than was any other 
denomination at that time. After Varick and his followers withdrew, the 
Methodist Episcopal Church permitted Negro ministers to play an important 
part in the evangelistic work of that church. This was not the case in any 
other denomination in America during that period. The Methodist Episcopal 
Church not only did not try in any way to embarrass Varick and his 
followers, but in many ways actually helped them. So that the Zion Church 
(I use the short term Zion Church for the African Methodist Episcopal Zion 
Church) and the Methodist Episcopal Church have been on the most friendly 
terms from the organization of the Zion Church up to the present day. Soon 
after the withdrawal of Varick and his followers, the Methodist Episcopal 
Church began her war on slavery and kept it up with ever-increasing 
determination until human slavery in America was a thing of the past, thus 
showing that she was not opposed to her brother in black, but one of his 
best friends. She literally carried out the scriptural injunction "If thy 
right hand offend thee cut it off," when she cut off a part of her very 
self that "offended" on the question of slavery. This was 

Page 8

done in less than fifty years after Varick and his followers withdrew from 
that church. And since the civil war this same Methodist Episcopal Church 
has done more to educate the Negro in America than any other denomination 
with the possible exception, according to numbers, of the Congregational 
Church.


CHAPTER II. 
PARENTAGE AND EARLY LIFE OF JAMES VARICK.

   Richard Varick, who was of Dutch descent, the father of James Varick, 
was born in Hackensack, New Jersey, but when a child moved with his 
parents to New York City. It is difficult to tell to what nationality 
James Varick belongs. At least three different nationalities enter into 
his composition. Through his veins flowed the blood of the Negro, the 
American Indian and the Dutchman. According to the American way of 
settling race identity, I suppose he would be called a Negro, for he had 
Negro blood flowing through his veins. In America a person with the least 
Negro blood flowing through his veins is considered a Negro. The exact 
date of Varick's birth is not clearly known, but putting all the facts in 
his eventful life together, it appears that 1750 is as near a date as can 
be given as the year of his birth. We give the 17th as the day of his 
birth, since it is as convenient as any other date. Thus born June 17th, 
1750, exactly seventy-two years later, after his life work had been 
practically finished, he was elected Elder and then first Bishop of the 
denomination he had founded. He was born 

Page 9

in stirring times when the best brains and the best blood were all aflame 
with a desire for liberty, which was expressed twenty-six years after his 
birth in the Declaration of Independence of English rule. Varick caught 
the spirit of his age and in due time was ready to lead his little band of 
followers to religious liberty. Just where Varick was born is not clearly 
known. It is stated by the early fathers of the church that he was born in 
Newburg, N. Y., up the Hudson river from New York city. While Varick was 
born in Newburg it appears that his mother was a resident of New York and 
was in Newburg on a visit when Varick was born. At any rate, James Varick 
was reared in New York city. His mother was a colored woman of very bright 
complexion. Whether she had been a slave or was a free woman is not known. 
In the history of New York city the rich and distinguished Varick family 
has figured most conspicuously in its social, political and commercial 
life for the last two centuries. One of the members of this cultured 
Varick family was mayor of New York city. The Varick Bank of New York city 
is named in honor of, and controlled by this same strong and influential 
family. Varick street, on which I have walked many times, which runs from 
Clarkson street to Canal, is also named after this distinguished family. 
It is possible that Varick's mother at one time was a slave in the family.

   As a young man Varick seemed to have enjoyed such school privileges as 
were given at that time to colored children in the state of New York. 

Page 10

There were some very good schools--at least two or three--for colored 
children in New York city at that time. Young Varick was a shoemaker by 
trade, having his house and shop in Orange street, now called Baxter 
street, running from Walker to Leonard street, where he lived most of his 
long life. Having lived in this house so long a time, it is possible that 
he owned the house, although we have no proof at hand to that effect. It 
would have been difficult for him to have had such controlling influence 
over the leading colored people in New York at that time without his being 
to some extent their equal from a financial stand point as well as their 
superior intellectually. We know that many colored people owned their 
property in New York at that time.

   "He was a man of firmness, patience, perseverance, forethought, caution 
and uprightness. He was plain but orthodox in his preaching."*

   * See Bishop Moore's "History of the A. M. E. Zion Church."

   Upon these characteristics given by Bishop Moore, Bishop Hood remarks 
in his One Hundred Years of the African Methodist Church: "The man who has 
all these characteristics is a remarkably uncommon human being, and yet 
they are just the qualities needed for the ordeal through which the 
foremost religious leader of the oppressed race in America had to pass."*

   * See Bishop Hood's "One Hundred Years of the A. M. E. Zion Church."

   Varick was a man of robust constitution well calculated to endure the 
physical hardships and 

Page 11

bear the mental burdens which awaited him in the immediate future. He was 
a man of purest morals and he placed a high premium upon the bond of 
sacred wedlock.

   Varick seems to have been converted when very young. He was a boy about 
sixteen years of age when Philip Embury and Captain Thomas Webb began 
their preaching in and around New York city in 1766. Varick was probably 
converted by the preaching of Philip Embury and Captain Webb and joined 
the John Street Methodist Episcopal Church. The church is still standing 
on the same spot, though it may have been remodeled many times since 
Varick was a member there. I have worshipped many times in the church at 
noon-day prayer meetings that are held there every day throughout the 
year. The church has two stories and seems to be about fifty feet wide and 
eighty feet long. This church is the cradle of American Methodism and the 
place where Varick got his first religious training.


CHAPTER III. 
SCHOOL PRIVILEGES FOR COLORED CHILDREN AT THE TIME OF VARICK AND HIS 
DESCENDANTS.

   Often through this article reference is made to the good school 
facilities for colored children in the time of Varick as compared with the 
privileges they enjoyed in some other states. To verify this statement I 
give herewith an extract written by Mr. S. R. Scroton, of Brooklyn, N. Y., 
from The New York Age, July 1, 1905. Mr. Scroton is splendid authority on 
the subject, for he is not 

Page 12

only one of the leading colored men in the state of New York to-day, but 
has been prominently identified with every movement having for its object 
the betterment of the condition of the colored people in the state or city 
of New York for the last fifty years. He is at present the only member of 
the race on the Board of Education of the city of New York.

   "So far as any record of the schools of the city of New York, i e., the 
boroughs composing the present city, is concerned, we began here with 
mixed schools one hundred and fifty years and more ago. The first schools 
were those supported by the several churches, all of them absorbed in 
schooling the children of their several parishes. They were mixed schools, 
whites, free blacks and Indians all together. This was true of the old 
Dutch Reformed Church in Bushwick, of the Dutch Reformed Church in 
Flatbush, and like churches in their earliest history, followed by the old 
Sand Street Methodist and by those of other denominations for a very long 
period. The only schooling had by colored children was obtained in these 
church mixed schools. The first separate schools for 'African Children' 
hereabouts were attempted by the Quakers, who became what was known as the 
Mann Mission Society as early as 1794, immediately upon the passage of the 
forty year act for the gradual emancipation of slaves. These good people 
had been largely instrumental in freeing the 'African slaves' hereabouts, 
and they at once set about opening schools to be especially devoted to 
these newly free children. They imported an Englishman named Piesson to 
teach the first school at a salary of three hundred dollars per annum; but 
since the colored people avoided this separate school and stuck to the 
church parish schools, he was able to report an average attendance the 
first year of only twenty-six scholars, and the project very nearly came 
to an end; but by the employment of a colored man teacher, whose name 
occurs first on the roll of the African Relief Society, they succeeded in 
increasing the attendance and a number of 

Page 13

schools until at the time they were turned over to the care of the Public 
School Society, which had been established by John Jay, De Witt Clinton 
and others, there were several of them in a fairly flourishing condition. 
Nevertheless there was ever complaint of the difficulty of keeping the 
seats filled, because so many colored children who were in the outlying 
districts were admitted to white schools. Prizes were given to the 
children who had induced the greatest number of their associates to follow 
them into the colored schools. Notwithstanding the popularity of 'Charlie' 
Andrews, a white man, particularly able as a teacher, had done so much for 
the education of the 'African' children in his school, the people were 
dissatisfied and broke into open rebellion in the shape of mass meetings, 
threatening to withdraw their children unless they were taught by colored 
teachers. Their determined stand resulted finally in a commission of 
prominent colored citizens being sent out, headed by Boston Crumwell, 
father of the late Rev. Alexander Crumwell, which commission succeeded in 
securing John Peterson and Ransom F. Wake. These satisfied the people and 
things became tranquil again. The fact is, the people knew that by the act 
granted by the Legislature to the Public School Society in 1805, they had 
a perfect right to demand entrance into any convenient public school. The 
memorial which the white citizens had presented agreed with the act, dated 
April 9, as follows: 'An act to incorporate the society instituted in the 
city of New York for the establishment of free schools for the education 
of poor children who do not belong to or are provided for by any religious 
society.' The colored people knew that they were entitled under the act to 
equal place in the public schools, and they were continually threatening. 
On the Brooklyn side of the river the schools remained many years longer 
in the charge of the churches Among the earliest name recorded of colored 
male teachers, under city pay, we find that of James C. Morell and William 
J. Wilson. Morell came here from Philadelphia and was first employed by 
the white people, out in that district, which in his day was known as 
Weeksville, named after an old colored man familiarly known as 'Jimmy' 
Weeks, a powerful and 

Page 14

noted character. The white people first employed the very able Morell to 
teach white adults in night schools, and their children, together with 
colored children--a mixed school--during the day, but as time wore on his 
school became a distinctively colored school. William J. Wilson struggled 
hard to keep his school filled with colored children, as did John Q. Allen 
and Charles A. Dersey, successors of the first two named."

   In these schools, doubtless, Varick and his children received their 
literary training. As has been said, the school privileges for the colored 
children have always been superior to those in most other cities and 
states in the Union. And even to-day the schools are worthy of the great 
metropolis of our country.


CHAPTER IV. 
WHERE COLORED PEOPLE LIVED IN THE TIME OF VARICK.

   Mrs. Ednah Dow Chaney, of Boston, in her "Reminiscences of Boston and 
Boston people," takes up a great deal of space in her excellent book 
telling where the colored people lived in Boston during the days of her 
childhood. This chapter of her book proves of special interest to all Afro-
Americans. So that now Jamaica Plains has a new interest to Afro-Americans 
of the present day, because they know that a hundred years ago the Afro-
American population of Boston lived in that section of the city. It is 
interesting to know just where the bulk of the colored population of New 
York lived during the life-time of James Varick, or from 1750 to 1825. 
Strange to say that the part of New York where most of the money in 

Page 15

America is handled to-day was in the days of James Varick the place where 
the bulk of the colored people lived. The city of New York was built up 
around the battery, and Wall street was on the northern outskirts of the 
city--and this section was the place where most of the colored people 
lived. Cross street, a very short street, was where Varick's followers had 
their first meeting house. Mott street, only two blocks away, was where 
the Allenites, or followers of Bishop Allen, twenty years afterward had 
their first meeting house in New York city. Orange street, now called 
Baxter street, was where James Varick lived so many years. Here he had his 
shoe shop and here is where his preachers met to consult with him about 
the new church movement in which they were engaged. William Miller had his 
cabinet shop in Mulberry street, only a block or two away. William Brown, 
one of the trustees of the new church movement, had his home in Leonard 
street, a little further away than the rest. Peter Williams, also 
prominent in this new church movement, lived in Liberty street only three 
blocks away from Wall street. Thus it will be seen that all these 
residences of colored people were within ten or fifteen minutes' walk of 
Wall street. The corner of Church and Leonard streets, where Varick's 
followers built their first church, was within a few minutes' walk of Wall 
street. This, then, was the battle ground of Negro endeavor in the days of 
James Varick. If Varick were to return 

Page 16

to the earth to-day he would find that his followers, so far as this 
section is concerned,

"Have folded their tents, like the Arab, 
And as silently moved away." 



CHAPTER V. 
JAMES VARICK AND FAMILY.

   It appears that James Varick did not marry until he was about forty-
eight years of age. This we judge from the ages of several of the 
descendants of Varick with whom we have talked and from whose lips we 
secured most of the information contained in this article. The name of the 
lady whom he married was Aurelia Jones. Aurelia Jones, the great grand-
daughter of James Varick, with whom I have talked, I judge to be (in 1900) 
about thirty-five years of age. Her cousin, Evelyn Varick, I judge to be 
about the same age. If Aurelia Washington in 1900 was thirty-five years of 
age she would have been born in 1865. Now, allowing her mother, Mrs. 
Elizabeth Varick-Washington, to have been thirty years old when Aurelia 
was born, would make the date of her (Mrs. Washington's) birth to be 1835. 
Then let us assume that Mrs. Washington's father, Daniel Varick, was 
thirty-five years old when Elizabeth Varick-Washington, his oldest child, 
was born. This would put Daniel Varick's birth in the year 1800. As Daniel 
was James Varick's oldest child, let us assume that James Varick was 
married two years before his first child was born. This would place James 
Varick's marriage in 1798, when he was forty-eight years of age. This is 
two years after he led 

Page 17

his people out of John Street Methodist Episcopal Church to form a new 
denomination where colored people could enjoy the worship of God under 
their own vine and fig tree.

   The only photograph we have of James Varick is the picture of a man at 
least seventy years of age. It was probably taken in 1822 at the time he 
was elected Bishop, or as the office was then called in our church, 
District President, when he was seventy-two years old, or seven years 
before he died. This photograph of Varick shows a strong face with massive 
high forehead, studious mein, and all the bearings of a deep and 
thoughtful theologian. His face is a most pleasant study. A peculiarity 
about Varick's hair decoration is that while the hair of his head is 
nearly straight, his whiskers are woolly. He was of bright complexion--
about the color of our American Indian.

   Varick married Aurelia Jones, who was of a brighter complexion than he, 
as the color of his children and grandchildren shows. There were four 
children*

   * Oliver Crumwell, grandson to James Varick, gives the following 
account of James Varick and children: "My knowledge comes from my aunt, 
Emeline, which is as follows: James Varick married Aurelia Jones, of New 
York city. I think it was either at the close of the eighteenth century or 
the beginning of the nineteenth century--about 1798 or 1800. From what I 
could glean from my aunt, her home life must have been congenial and 
happy. He was both a disciplinarian and kind of heart. So I judge his home 
was a happy one."

born to James Varick and his wife, namely: Daniel, Andrew, Emeline and 
Mary. Mrs. Jane Finch, of Camden, N. J., who was a playmate 

Page 18

of Varick's children and who gave me much information which I have used in 
the preparation of this article, claims that there was a fifth child by 
name of Frank. But as neither Aurelia Washington, who has the family 
history at her tongue's end, nor Evelyn Varick, knows anything about the 
fifth child, we drop that question without further discussion. Varick's 
wife seems to have been a most estimable woman, and did her full share 
toward shaping the lives of these children so that they would become 
useful men and women. She was probably much younger than her husband, and 
upon her devolved, it is to be supposed, the care of raising the children 
properly. The success which each child afterward achieved in the world, 
from a financial standpoint at least, is good proof that her efforts were 
not in vain. Varick was so much taken up with his church work that he 
doubtless was unable to give the oversight to his children which he 
otherwise might have given. They were no doubt given such school 
advantages as the city of New York at that time afforded its colored 
children. And New York, at this time when Varick's children were of school 
age, had better school facilities for colored children than any city in 
the Union. (And I think that state has better schools to-day than most of 
the other states.)

   Let us now give an account, as near as possible, of Varick's posterity.

   I. Daniel was the eldest child of James Varick. He lived in the lower 
part of New York when a boy with his father, in Orange street, now called 
Baxter street. This section of the city--around Holy 

Page 19

Trinity Church and Wall street--is the centre of business life of New York 
to-day. But in Varick's day it was in the outskirts or upper limits of the 
city. Daniel Varick enjoyed, doubtless, such school privileges as were in 
reach of the colored children in New York at that time. When about thirty-
six years of age he was married to a most excellent young woman by name of 
Mary Clark. She was a quadroon, and later in life fought in court the rich 
Riddley estate for her share in the property. She was connected with the 
rich family of the Riddleys by the ties of consanguinity, but her people 
on her mother's side were not only colored but poor. Her fight, therefore, 
was an unequal one and she lost the suit. Of this union of Daniel Varick 
and Mary Clark seven children were born.

   1. The first child was Elizabeth. As a child she seems to have had the 
best literary training obtainable in New York at that time. She grew to 
womanhood and married a man from Washington, D. C., by name of Robert 
Washington. Robert Washington was a barber on a palace ship running on the 
Hudson river between New York city and Albany. Mrs. Washington was an 
exceptionally fine looking woman. I have studied her photograph very 
carefully. I tried very hard to get her photograph for this book, but her 
daughter said her mother was always opposed, while she lived, to having 
her picture leave the house of her nearest relatives, and so this daughter 
refused to let me have the picture. From her photograph Mrs. Washington 
looks very much like a well bred English woman. She is of heavy build, 
with very 

Page 20

intelligent face and high forehead. She has a calm and pleasant 
expression, and one does not tire studying the picture. There were born to 
this marriage of Robert Washington and Elizabeth Varick three children:

   (1). The eldest was a boy by name of Daniel, so named after his 
grandfather, Daniel Varick. He grew to be a man and started out bravely to 
make his mark in the world. He was a first-class caterer. At the time of 
his death he was steward of a club house on Broad way, made up exclusively 
of rich men. The picture which I give of him here was taken when he was 
quite young and very slender. A picture which I saw of him, in possession 
of his sister, which I tried very hard to get for this book but could not, 
shows him to be a very polished gentleman with high forehead, side 
whiskers quite long, and immaculate in his dress. In the picture he is in 
standing posture, very erect and having all the bearings of good raising. 
He died of small-pox in New York city about thirty years of age. He was 
not identified with any church.

   (2). The second child of Robert Washington and Elizabeth Varick was 
named Amelia. She died in infancy.

   (3). The third child of Robert Washington and Elizabeth Varick was a 
girl named Aurelia. She lived in a different age from that of her grand-
parents and had splendid school facilities within her reach. She was, 
therefore, well educated. She grew to womanhood and is one of the most 
beautiful women it has ever fallen my lot to see.

Page 21

   The picture which I give is an early one and does not represent her as 
I saw her in 1902. This picture represents her as slender, which is not 
characteristic of her now. As I saw her she was of medium height, slightly 
heavy set, always neatly dressed, very stylish in her general bearing, a 
pleasant smile playing over her face most of the time while in 
conversation, displaying a set of beautiful white teeth, an open 
countenance, sparkling black eyes, a small nose, black wavy hair, a 
symetrical form, bright and affable in conversation, but withal very 
frank. All these qualities combine to make her an unusually attractive 
woman. I tried to secure her picture as she looked when I saw her but 
could not. I only secured the one I have without her knowledge from her 
relative. She married a man by name of Jones, who died a few years after 
their marriage. One child, a boy, was the result of this marriage. This 
Aurelia Washington-Jones, great grandchild of James Varick, I was 
permitted to talk with personally. I found her to be exceedingly 
interesting in conversation. I was also permitted to talk personally with 
her cousin, Evelyn Varick, of New York city.


CHAPTER VI. 
JAMES VARICK AND FAMILY--CONTINUED.

   2. The second child of Daniel Varick and Mary Clark was Aurelia. On 
reaching womanhood she married Thomas Hoffman, who was a member of the 
Philomethian Lodge and Grand Director of the Grand United Order of Odd 
Fellows in 1844, the 

Page 22

second year after that order was organized in America. They lived happily 
in New York only a few years. Death soon robbed them of their happiness. 
One child was born to them, which brought added joy to their home. But 
soon father and child died and the heart-broken widow and mother, with her 
double grief, was left to tread life's dreary pathway alone. She was 
blest, however, with many relatives and friends who deeply sympathized 
with her in her grief. Her home being broken up, she made her home with 
relatives and friends until she finally went to the land beyond to be with 
her husband and babe.

   3. The third child of Daniel and Mary Varick was Daniel, named in honor 
of his father. He grew to be a splendidly developed man, as he appears in 
his photograph which I have had the pleasure of seeing. He was tall, 
rather slender, stylish looking and not as bright in complexion as most of 
the other relatives whose photographs I have seen. He was a first-class 
barber by trade. He has the distinction of marrying the widow of George 
Collins. All will remember that George Collins was the amanuensis to 
Bishop Rush most of the busiest part of the Bishop's life, especially when 
he wrote his book, "The Rise and Progress of the African Methodist 
Episcopal Zion Church." Collins' widow was named Martha. Her picture looks 
like that of a white woman. She was a remarkable woman, being perfectly 
conversant with the whole history of the A. M. E. Zion Church from its 
beginning up to the time of her death. Her first husband, George Collins, 
who was much 

Page 23

older than she, began with the history of the church as far back as 1800. 
He took a prominent part in the church from first to last. For fifty years 
he was one of the most prominent men in the church. Martha Collins, his 
wife, learned the early history of the church from his lips, and being a 
very observant and intelligent woman, knew the later history of the church 
by personal experience. She was really one of the most talented women 
connected with the early history of the A. M. E. Zion Church. Her first 
husband, George Collins, was one of the most liberally educated men in the 
church, and she enjoyed the close relation of wife to this excellent man 
for many years, and after his death she married into the Varick family, to 
Daniel Varick, as we have said above. To Daniel Varick and Martha Collins 
three children were born.

   (1). Daniel. The eldest child was Daniel, named in honor of his father 
and grandfather. He grew to be a man and for many years was porter on a 
Pullman sleeping car. He finally took sick and died in New York city, He 
was married, and his widow, I understand, lives on the Hudson river 
between New York city and Albany.

   (2). Evelyn. Evelyn was the second child born to Daniel Varick and 
Martha Collins. I have talked with her personally, and find her to be a 
very intelligent woman. She is not so pretty as her cousin Aurelia 
Washington-Jones, in Philadelphia, but is quite as intelligent. In fact, 
all of Varick's descendants are very intelligent. Miss Evelyn is a 
dressmaker by trade and works daily 

Page 24

at it. She has all the bearing of the New York business woman. She is 
frank in conversation and independent in her manners. She is single and is 
prominently identified with the church. She is a member of St. Phillip's 
Protestant Episcopal Church, New York city. She is light in complexion and 
below the averaged sized woman, and is a fluent conversationalist.

   (3). James was the third child of Daniel Varick and Martha Collins. He 
was named in honor of James Varick, the great nestor of the family, and 
founder of the A. M. E. Zion Church. He died when a child in short clothes.

   The next children of Daniel Varick and Mary Clark were twins. The first 
of these was a boy, but was never named. He died in infancy.

   (5). The other twin lived and was named John Edward Varick. He grew to 
be a man and was very industrious. He married a woman in New York by name 
of Emily Attigh, also called Emily Louisa Brassene, March 30th, 1848, Rev. 
Benjamin Evans officiating. Three children were born to them.

   (1). The first was named John Edward, born September 6th, 1849. He grew 
to manhood and became a machinist by trade, but never married. He was 
named in honor of his father.

   (2). Mary Adelle, the only daughter born to John Edward Varick and 
Emily Attigh, was born March 6th, 1851. She grew to be a young woman, had 
many accomplishments but was of frail constitution.

Page 25

   (3). The third and last child was Peter James. He died in infancy July, 
1854.

   John Edward Varick did not live long to care for his family. He died of 
consumption December, 1854, at his residence 219 Church street, New York 
city. The son, John Edward, and daughter, Mary Adelle, both of frail 
constitutions, were devoted to their mother and made home comfortable and 
pleasant for her as long as they lived.

   Mary Adelle married Prof. John Q. Allen, a teacher in the Brooklyn 
public schools. No children were born to this union. On October 15th, 
1890, John Edward Varick died in New York city aged 41 years. His sister, 
Mrs. Mary Adelle Allen, did not long survive him. She died January 3d, 
1894. Both sister and brother were victims of the same disease which 
carried away their father.

   John Edward Varick's widow married later George P. W. Ray. From this 
union one child was born, a daughter, Emily Ray, who grew to womanhood and 
married Mr. Frank S. Downing.

   (6 and 7). The sixth and seventh children of Daniel Varick and Mary 
Clark were also twins. They both died in infancy. This completes the 
posterity of Daniel Varick, James Varick's first child.

   II. James Varick's second child was a boy named Andrew. As a boy and 
young man he enjoyed the school privileges that were obtainable in his day 
by colored children. He was a man of quiet habits and a business cast of 
mind. He ran an oyster saloon in the lower part of New York City. He was a 
typical New York business man, and 

Page 26

pushed his business with energy. He did not take any active part, so far 
as I can learn, in religious matters. He lived to be sixty years of age 
and died in New York City.



CHAPTER VII. 
JAMES VARICK AND FAMILY--CONTINUED.

   We have spoken so far of James Varick's two sons. We come now to speak 
of his daughters.

   III. The third child of James Varick and Aurelia Jones was Emeline. Her 
father gave her the best school advantages it was possible for her to 
obtain at that time in New York. She married, after growing to be a young 
woman, John Basteen. She seems to have been very fortunate in her 
marriage, for John Basteen proved to be a very worthy husband. He was a 
native of Hayti and lived to an extreme old age, and died in New York in 
1885, at the age of seventy-nine. Both John Basteen and his wife, Emeline 
Varick, were prominent characters in New York society during their long 
lives. His wife, Emeline, was a public spirited woman, and seems to have 
inherited a great deal of her distinguished father's spirit for making the 
world better. She was directress of the board of the Colored Orphan 
Asylum, and an active member of St. Phillip's Protestant Episcopal Church, 
New York City. In all these movements of charity and reform, she was 
associated with Mrs. Charles Reason, Miss Fannie Tompkins, Miss Eliza D. 
Richards, and others. These intelligent and influential ladies, in 
addition to 

Page 27

their work of charity and reform among people of New York, often held 
fairs and in other ways raised money to aid the colored soldiers during 
the civil war. Mrs. Basteen, like her husband, lived to a ripe age to 
prosecute her benevolent work of helping others. The union of Emeline 
Varick and John Basteen was blessed with two children, both girls.

   1. The oldest girl was Clara. She married Walter B. Warren, of New 
York. He was a steward on a steamer plying between New York and Liverpool. 
He held this position for many years. He was a man of intelligence and 
industry, and provided well for his family. This business of travel 
between New York and Liverpool, for so many years, not only served as a 
means of providing for his family, but a source of education as well. His 
wife, Mrs. Clara Basteen-Warren, died in New York in 1876 at the age of 
forty-one years. She left three children, Charlotte, Walter B., and 
Theodore M.

   (1) The oldest was Charlotte C. Like her two brothers she had the 
advantages of the public schools of New York. She was married twice. First 
to Albert Wilson, who did not live long. Charlotte then remained a widow 
for some time, after which she married Steward Siedle, of Reading, Pa. She 
died in the year 1898 at the age of forty-one years, leaving no children.

   (2) Walter B. Warren, the second child of Walter B. Warren and Clara 
Basteen, on reaching manhood, married Corenah B. D'Artois, of South 

Page 28

Norwalk, Conn. Mr. Walter B. Warren is a successful citizen of Brooklyn, 
N. Y. He is a man of steady habits, unquestioned integrity and large 
business capacity. He has been connected for over thirty years with a 
large financial firm in Wall street, New York, occupying in this firm a 
position of trust and responsibility. As an evidence of his business 
capacity he owns a fine residence in one of the most fashionable parts of 
the city of Brooklyn. He is the treasurer of the New York African Society 
for Mutual Relief. He is also a prominent member of St. Phillip's 
Protestant Episcopal Church, New York. This union of Walter B. Warren and 
Corenah B. D'Artois is blessed with one child, Howard C.

   (a) Howard C. Warren, only child of Walter B. Warren and Corenah B. 
D'Artois, is a young man of rare intelligence. His father has given him 
splendid school advantages, and the young man, following the natural 
inclination of his mind, has become an accomplished musician. Like his 
father, he is connected with one of the banking houses in Wall street, New 
York.

   (3) Theodore M. Warren on arriving at manhood, married Ella Barton. He 
is a New Yorker to the manor born. He is still living in New York. This 
union of Theodore M. Warren and Ella Barton is blessed with one child, a 
daughter by name of Edith.

   (a) Edith Warren, the only child of Theodore M. Warren and Ella Barton, 
is a young lady of intelligence, having been favored in every way 

Page 29

possible by her parents. She is married to Mr. _____, and has two 
children. She lives in New York.

   2. Mary Basteen, the second child of John Basteen and Emeline Varick, 
was probably named in honor of her aunt, Mary Varick, the last and 
youngest child of the great James Varick, or after her uncle Daniel 
Varick's wife, whose maiden name was Mary Clark. Mary Basteen married a 
man of excellent disposition, by name of William H. Garrison. He was a 
steward on a ship running between New York City and Aspinwall. This couple 
was very happy in their married life, but it did not last long, for both 
died young, leaving no children.

   Leaving now the posterity of Emeline Varick, James Varick's third 
child, we now take up the life of James Varick's youngest child, Mary 
Varick, and her descendants.



CHAPTER VIII.
JAMES VARICK AND FAMILY--CONCLUDED.

   Thus far we have considered the lives of three of James Varick's 
children, namely: Daniel, Andrew and Emeline. We now come to consider the 
youngest or fourth child.

   IV. Mary Varick. Mary Varick was the youngest child of James Varick and 
Aurelia Jones. She, like her aunt, Emeline, was highly cultured, being one 
of the intellectual women of New York City in her day. She was secretary 
of most of the organizations among Negroes in the 

Page 30

city of New York in her day. At the time of her death she was secretary of 
the North Star Association, an organization which had for its purpose the 
booming of Frederick Douglass, the rising young orator of the Negro race 
at that time. She married Robert Cromwell. Robert Cromwell was a 
distinguished colored man, and well deserved to become the husband of one 
of the daughters of Bishop Varick. First of all, he was well educated. In 
the second place, he owned considerable property. His property holdings 
for the most part were in New Haven, Conn. He was a most exemplary man in 
many other respects. He never tasted a drop of liquor, nor used tobacco in 
any form. He was upright in all of his business dealings with his fellow 
men. His word was his bond. He was authority on Masonic matters. And in 
the lodge he is said to have been a strict disciplinarian. He was devoted 
to his wife, and their married life was congenial and happy. Seven 
children were born to them: William, James V., Robert B., Oliver, Esther 
M., Theodore and George. William died in infancy. James was born April 
17th, 1837, and died October 30th, 1873. Robert was born August 2nd, 1839, 
and died October 12th, 1892. Oliver was born December 31st, 1841. He is 
still living and furnished me much valuable information concerning his 
family. Esther was born January 1st, 1844. She died July 13th, 1868. 
Theodore was born March 4th, 1846. He died September 16th, 1886. George, 
the 

Page 31

youngest child, was born June 20th, 1848, and died September 4th, 1863. 
Only two of this large family of children ever married. Robert married, 
but left no children when he died. Oliver married, had one child born to 
him, Esther M. by name, who grew to womanhood. She was born January 26th, 
1872. She married a man by name of Taylor. September 15th, 1890, a son was 
born to them, whose name is Robert. Robert Cromwell was a public spirited 
man and instilled the same spirit into most of his children. Robert 
Cromwell put his children in school as soon as they reached school age, 
and kept them there until they had secured a fair education. But this 
loving wife, while the children were still young, died, May 1st, 1850. 
This was a terrible blow to both the father and these young children. But 
these children were fortunate in having some one to care for them in the 
person of their good aunt, Mrs. Emeline Basteen. This excellent woman took 
these six children to her home and cared for them, as if they were her 
own. Robert Cromwell, the father of these children, later in life, married 
a second time, and still lived in New Haven. Robert Cromwell had several 
avocations by which he earned an honest living. He was barber, steward, 
cook and baker. He was steward on steamships, especially on the old 
Pacific Mail Line plying between New York City and San Francisco. When at 
length Robert Cromwell himself died most of the property in New Haven went 
to the 

Page 32

second wife. I want to notice more particularly the lives of each of these 
children.

   1. William, I have said, died in infancy. He was the first child of 
Robert Cromwell and Mary Varick.

   2. James, the second child, was named in honor of his distinguished 
grandfather. He never marrried. He was a barber by trade. For several 
years he travelled in different parts of the world and died October 30th, 
1873.

   3. The next child was Robert. He was born August 2nd, 1839. He was 
named in honor of his cultured father. When he grew to manhood he married. 
No children were born to him. For many years he was steward on a ship. He 
died October 12th, 1892.

   4. Oliver was the fourth child, born December 31st, 1831. He is still 
living, having spent a great deal of his life in New Haven, Conn. He 
married early in life and has cared for his family well ever since. He is 
a man of rare intelligence and is quite familiar with the family history 
of his illustrious ancestors. I owe him much for the interest he has taken 
in furnishing me information about the family. . He has one child, Esther 
M. by name. He is now living in Ithaca, N. Y.

   (1) Esther M., the only child of Oliver Cromwell, is a well educated 
young woman. She was converted in Ithaca, N. Y., in 1905, under the 
pastorate of Rev. T. A. Auten. She is now one of the most active members 
in the A. M. E. Zion 

Page 33

Church at Ithaca, N. Y. A most remarkable thing about her is that she is 
the first descendant of Bishop James Varick, so far as I have been able to 
discover, who is an active member of the church founded by James Varick 
more than a hundred years ago. She was born January 26th, 1872. Her 
married name is Esther M. Taylor. She has one child.

   (a) Robert, the only child of Esther M. Cromwell-Taylor, was born 
September 15th, 1890. He is named in honor of his distinguished 
grandfather.

   5. Esther. The fifth child of Robert Cromwell and Mary Varick was 
Esther. She was the only girl born to her parents. She was a very 
brilliant young woman, inheriting much of her illustrious parents' 
intellectual stamina. She went South to teach school after the war. She 
did excellent service there as a teacher. She had inherited on her 
mother's side from the great James Varick a consuming desire to help the 
condition of her race. And from her father she had inherited that rare 
intelligence which enabled her to carry out this desire. But the climate 
did not agree with her frail constitution. She was attacked with fever 
from which all the best physicians could not rid her. She held to her work 
as long as it was possible for her to do so. Finally she became so weak 
that she could no longer remain at her post. She came to New York with 
shattered health, where after a short lingering she died 

Page 34

July 13th, 1868, in the twenty-fifth year of her age. She was tenderly 
cared for in her last illness by relatives of the Varick family, who were 
then living in New York. She was buried in New York City. She was a woman 
of sweet disposition and consecrated her talents to the betterment of her 
race. Her niece, Esther Cromwell-Taylor, now living in Ithaca, New York, 
is named in honor of her.

   6. Theodore was the sixth child of Robert Cromwell and Mary Varick. He 
was born March 4th, 1846. He was a very intelligent young man, as might be 
expected from his intelligent parent-age. He went South to teach school. 
He did not remain long, as the climate did not agree with him. He came 
North to New Haven, the old family home. He regained his health and lived 
until September 15th, 1866, when he died. He was never married.

   7. The seventh and last child of Robert Cromwell and Mary Varick was 
George. He was born June 20th, 1848, two years before his mother died. 
When quite young he went to California with some relatives where, December 
4th, 1863, he died.

   Thus we have traced the life of James Varick, his four children, his 
sixteen grandchildren, thirteen great grandchildren, five great great 
grandchildren and one great great great grandchild--forty in all. I give 
their names as follows:

   James Varick     1  
His children: Daniel, Andrew, Emeline and Mary     4  

Page 35

   His grandchildren: Daniel Varick's children: Elizabeth, Aurelia, 
Daniel, John and twin, and twins  7     
Emeline's children: Clara Basteen-Warren, Mary Basteen-Garrison  2     
Mary's children: William Cromwell, James Cromwell, Robert Cromwell, Oliver 
Cromwell, Esther Cromwell Theodore Cromwell and George Cromwell  7     
In all  16  
His great grandchildren: Elizabeth Washington's children: Daniel 
Washington, Amelia Washington, Aurelia Washington  3     
Aurelia Hoffman's child: one child  1     
Daniel Varick's children: Daniel Varick, Evelyn Varick, James Varick  3
John Edward Varick's children: John Edward Varick, Adele Varick, Peter 
James Varick  3     
Clara Basteen-Warren's children: Charlotte Warren, Walter Warren, Theodore 
Warren  3     
Oliver Cromwell's child: Esther M. Taylor  1     
In all  14  
His great great grandchildren: Aurelia Washington-Jones' child: James 
Jones  1     
Evelyn Varick's child: Evelyn Varick.  1     

Page 36

Walter Warren's child: Howard  1     
Theodore Warren's child: Edith  1     
Esther M. Cromwell-Taylor's child: Robert  1     
In all  5  
His great great great grandchild: Edith Warren's child: Edith  1     
In all  41  

   Thus, with Varick himself, there are forty-one of the family.



CHAPTER IX. 
FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS.

   Having given briefly the lives of the various members of the Varick 
family, it may not be out of place to notice some of the family 
characteristics as I have gleaned them from correspondence and personal 
contact with several members of the family.

   1. Family Complexion.--The whole family, with but few exceptions, is 
very light in complexion. In fact, some members of the family actually 
pass for white. I do not state this as a thing to be set to their credit, 
but simply an historical fact.

   2. Firmness, or Decision of Character.--Another family trait which I 
noticed about them is firmness, or decision of character. When once they 
take a stand, they are not easily moved from that position. This trait of 
character was prominent in James Varick himself, and all of his 
descendants seemed to have inherited a large share of it.

Page 37

   3. Intelligence.--Still another family characteristic is rare 
intelligence. There is not a dull member of the family, so far as I have 
been able to discover. They all have bright and clear minds, and have had 
splendid school advantages.

   4. Frankness.--One of the things which impressed me most forcibly in 
conversing with different members of the family is their frankness. One is 
surprised all the time he is conversing with them at this trait of 
character, as it manifests itself in all they say.

   5. Lack of Religious Fervor--A most disappointing fact in connection 
with most of the younger members of the family is that none seem to have 
the religious fervor and zeal which was so characteristic of the great 
nestor of the family, Bishop James Varick. With but three or four 
exceptions none are active members of the church. But these three or four 
are very earnest and devout Christians. Most of these three or four are 
members of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and are doing splendid service 
in that great church. Only one, so far as I have been able to discover, is 
a member of the great African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. But we 
should not despair. The great Methodist Episcopal Church has often 
regretted that John Wesley had no children or close relatives who became 
prominent in the Methodist Episcopal Church after John Wesley died. In 
fact, history will show that only few men who distinguish themselves along 
any given line have 

Page 38

had any successors, in their immediate family, along that line.

   6. Family Names.--At a glance at the great Varick family tree, one can 
pick out the favorite names that have come down through the family for 
over one hundred and fifty years. There are at least four Jameses, four 
Daniels, three Aurelias, two Marys, two Theodores, two Walters, two Johns, 
two Roberts, two Esthers. These we style family names.

   This in brief constitutes some of the leading characteristics of the 
great James Varick family. In the veins of James Varick flowed the blood 
of a mixed ancestry. There was the blood of the firm and tenaceous 
Dutchman, the blood of the alert and unconquerable Indian, and the blood 
of the religious Negro. Such a man was well calculated to found a great 
religious denomination whose field of usefulness is as wide as the world.

   This great Varick family means to the African Methodist Episcopal Zion 
Church what the Wesley family means to the great Methodist Episcopal 
Church.

   Let us, as members of the great church founded by Varick, lift our eyes 
to heaven in thankfulness that there was ever a man sent from God whose 
name was James.



CHAPTER X. 
SKETCH OF JAMES VARICK'S WORK.

   According to the date we give for Varick's birth, 1750, he was about 
forty-six years of age 

Page 39

when in 1796, his desire to establish a Negro Church took regular and 
permanent form in New York City. Associated with him were a great many 
Negroes, but we have the names of only a few, the full records of the 
movement are not at hand. But enough of the record is at hand to give 
authenticity to all we have to say about it. Our main guide is the early 
history of the church by Bishop Rush, who was an eye-witness to and 
participant in all the stirring events in the early history of the church. 
Francis Jacobs, William Brown, Peter Williams, Abraham Thompson, June 
Scott, Samuel Pontier, Thomas Miller, William Hamilton and others were 
associated with James Varick in this great movement. There were four men 
who immediately joined them after they had left John Street Methodist 
Episcopal Church, who played so important a part in the early history of 
the church, that their names should be directly connected with the names 
mentioned above. These names were: Levin Smith, William Miller, 
Christopher Rush and George Collins. Of these noble men who founded the A. 
M. E. Zion Church, James Varick was not the oldest or youngest. He was not 
as old as Abraham Thompson nor as young as Levin Smith. While Varick had 
attended the schools such as were afforded colored children in his day, he 
never wrote anything in book or pamphlet form. That he was a man far above 
the average man of color of his day in intelligence, no one has ever 
questioned. He succeeded to the 

Page 40

leadership of this new movement because he possessed elements of 
leadership which none of his associates enjoyed. He was a natural born 
leader of men. Otherwise he could not have pushed his way to the head of a 
movement so vast in its scope and so far-reaching in its influence. He was 
calm and calculative in his methods. The one dominant characteristic of 
his being was positiveness, or what Bishop Moore calls "firmness." He was 
tactful and persevering. It is interesting to note how Varick gradually 
took the lead of the men who were associated with him in establishing this 
new religious denomination. When the movement began he did not seem to be 
more prominent than some others. He kept himself ever in the background 
and used the other strong men about him, and by force of his superior 
executive abilities he eventually established the new religious 
denomination, Methodist Episcopal in form, and was elected its first 
Bishop. He was not given to much talk. He was a thinker and organizer. In 
1796, when Varick led his movement to form a new church, he was not at 
that time a preacher himself. Just when James Varick was licensed to 
preach is not clearly known. He probably secured license between 1796 and 
1800. In 1797, there was a great increase in colored members of John 
Street Methodist Episcopal Church, and it is not improbable that Varick, 
who was still on good terms with that church might have had something to 
do with this great ingathering of colored people in the church, and this 
might have led to his being 

Page 41

licensed to preach, so that he might assist in caring for them. This is 
mere conjecture, as we have no data to which we can refer to settle the 
matter. Another matter about which there is equally as much doubt is the 
exact date as to when Varick was ordained Deacon. It is clear that he was 
a preacher and possibly a Deacon for many years prior to 1820. When Bishop 
Allen came on from Philadelphia to New York, July 23, 1820, and held 
services on that date, which was Sabbath, his unfriendliness toward Zion 
Church had been such that the Zion ministers in New York determined not to 
exchange pulpit courtesies with him on that occasion. That is to say, the 
Zion preachers determined not to invite Bishop Allen to their pulpits, nor 
to accept an invitation from him to enter his pulpit. But on the date 
given above, Sunday, July 23, 1820, several of the Zion preachers attended 
the meeting conducted by Bishop Allen and sat in the altar. Varick himself 
opened one of the meetings on that Sabbath. This shows, of course, that 
Varick was a preacher of long standing, and the recognized head of the A. 
M. E. Zion Church. Too much cannot be said, in this connection, in favor 
of Rev. William Stilwell, the Elder of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
who, before and after his withdrawal from that church, was the very best 
friend Varick and his followers had at this time, and he did more to prove 
his friendship than any one else of that period. He offered to ordain 
Varick an Elder and an others whom he might select. But Varick hesitated 
and 

Page 42

acted exactly like Wesley in the early days of Methodism, when Wesley was 
constant in his endeavors to establish the Methodist Church, but 
tenaciously held on to the Church of England. If Varick had accepted 
ordination of Elder's Orders at the hand of Elder Stilwell and his 
associates as soon as the offer was made he would have been in position to 
establish a church of Episcopal form and launch his new church without 
further embarrassment. As it was, Varick and his followers put off this 
vital matter until Wednesday night, September 13, 1820, when at a meeting, 
over which Rev. William M. Stilwell presided, Abraham Thompson and James 
Varick were nominated for Elder's Orders. On Sunday afternoon, October 
1st, 1820, the time appointed for the election of these brethren, the 
meeting was presided over by the ever faithful Rev. William M. Stilwell. 
James Varick and Abraham Thompson were offered for Elder's Orders and upon 
the majority vote of those present, in a most solemn service these two men 
were elected to Elder's Orders.



CHAPTER XI.
SKETCH OF VARICK'S WORK--CONTINUED.--JAMES VARICK ELECTED ELDER AND FIRST 
BISHOP OF THE CHURCH.

   Notwithstanding these men had been elected to Elder's Orders, they 
still wavered. And instead of having the ordination at once they waited 
until Monday night, June 17th, 1822. On this last date the whole society 
in large numbers were out 

Page 43

to witness the ordination services. Dr. James Covel preached an able and 
appropriate sermon, then he and Rev. Sylvester Hutchinson and Rev. William 
M. Stilwell solemnly ordained Abraham Thompson, James Varick and Levin 
Smith, to the Order of Elders. Thus, after many disappointments and many 
discouragements for over a quarter of a century they had these three 
Elders ordained. And as might be expected, everything assumed a brighter 
aspect from that very hour. These men were elected Elders and ordained in 
the order given above, making Abraham Thompson the senior Elder and Levin 
Smith the junior. Varick cared nothing for this technical point in which 
Thompson was elected Elder before him. He had pursued this policy of 
holding himself in the background from the beginning of the movement. But 
when it came to the election of Bishop, Varick took his proper place and 
was elected the first Bishop of his denomination.

   Varick and his followers had their first meeting place in Cross street, 
which was fitted up with pulpit and seats, also a gallery. This first 
house of worship had formerly been a stable, and later a cabinet-maker's 
shop. This new movement, headed as it was by James Varick, drew to it the 
best element of Negroes in New York. From the very beginning it was styled 
"The Church of Rich Negroes." This congregation, which is the mother 
church of the great denomination founded by Varick, has always been since 
its foundation the most influential church among Negroes in the 

Page 44

city of New York. It is the only Negro church in New York City that has 
really built churches in New York. The first church built by this 
congregation was a frame church on the corner of Church and Leonard 
street. This soon gave place to a beautiful stone church on the same 
ground. As the city of New York began to grow so rapidly this congregation 
was offered a good price for its property, and the congregation decided to 
sell for $93,000. They next bought a church corner of West Tenth and 
Bleecker streets for $43,000, clearing fifty thousand dollars by the sale. 
After beautifying the new church and making it the most beautiful church 
in the city of New York they invested the rest of their money in real 
estate. As the business part of the city moved northward this congregation 
again found itself in a business settlement. They sold their church for 
$96,000 a few years ago and bought lots in Eighty-ninth street for $30,
000, on which they have built the most beautiful and substantial church 
owned by colored people in the city of New York. The church cost them a 
good deal over a hundred thousand dollars. As we have said before, this 
church has been from its beginning the church of wealthy Negroes. As an 
illustration of this statement Samuel J. Howard, for many years a 
prominent official in the church, died, leaving an estate of two hundred 
thousand dollars.

   I have spoken of this church in New York City at some length, because 
it is the mother 

Page 45

church of the entire denomination. Thus Varick began his work in New York 
City. But it was not all smooth sailing; there were dissensions now and 
then in his own ranks, and difficulties from without. A man by name of 
William Lambert, a layman in Zion Church, had been refused license to 
preach because it was thought he was not qualified for the office.

   But he went to William Miller, who at this time had also left Zion 
Church and was at the head of a church called Asbury, which he had formed 
from certain dissatisfied members from Zion Church. Miller did not care to 
have Lambert with him, so he recommended him to Bishop Allen of 
Philadelphia. Lambert went to Philadelphia and joined Bethel Church there, 
and was licensed to preach. He was then sent back to New York in July, 
1820, and with the assistance of George White, who had been a Deacon in 
Zion Church, he began the work of establishing a church under the 
supervision of Bishop Allen. They began work in Mott street, two blocks 
from Cross street, where Varick had his first meeting house. This society 
which had its beginning in Mott street, eventually went to East Side, and 
from East Side to Sullivan street, and from Sullivan street to Twenty-
fifth street, where they now worship. We have no criticism to offer Bishop 
Allen for insisting upon establishing a church in New York when there were 
already two colored churches there--Zion and Asbury. Zion did nearly the 
same thing the latter part of the year 1820, when she received 

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a church into our connection in Philadelphia which had formerly been under 
the supervision of Bishop Allen, but had had a misunderstanding with him. 
Varick was slow to act, however, in this matter, and would not receive the 
church until he had been earnestly solicited to do so by the members of 
this church, both ministerial and lay. So that our Bethel Church in New 
York, now so prominent in that denomination, was made up largely at its 
organization of persons who had formerly been members of Zion church. And 
our Big Wesley church in Philadelphia, so influential in our denomination 
today, had its beginning under Bishop Allen.

   Varick was worried a good deal about this time with Abraham Thompson, 
who tried to split Zion Church because he saw Varick's star constantly 
ascending and his own constantly descending.



CHAPTER XII. 
SKETCH OF VARICK'S WORK--CONCLUDED.--ELECTED BISHOP.--HIS DEATH.

   Although Varick was much younger than the now aged Abraham Thompson, he 
had always been recognized as the real head of the new religious society 
which was now beginning to take regular form as a distinct denomination 
among the religious bodies of the world. Five days after Varick's 
ordination as Elder, the first annual, which was also the first General 
Conference, met in Zion Church, New York City, June 22, 1821. 

Page 47

Varick was then duly elected head of his church and took his place as 
first Bishop of the A. M. E. Zion Church. Twenty-two preachers were on the 
roll and six churches were represented. The churches represented, with the 
members each had, were as follows:

Members.  
Zion Church, New York City  763  
Asbury Church, New York City (which was then in Zion connection)  150  
New Haven Church  24  
Long Island (all churches on the Island)  155  
Weslyan Church, Philadelphia  300  
Eastern Pennsylvania  18  
Total  1,426  

   Eighty-five years later, 1907, the membership had leaped to 569,305, 
and for the general church alone for six months was raised $100,000.00.

   Thus the church continued to grow each year, showing a great increase 
in membership. It is interesting to note the course the church took when 
it began to spread. Levin Smith was appointed a missionary to go as far as 
Boston. Rush was assigned to Newark, N. J. Edward Johnson was sent to 
Wesley Church, Philadelphia. From Philadelphia the church began to move 
South and West, so that it soon reached Baltimore and Washington, D. C., 
going South, and Harrisburg, Pittsburg and Alleghany in the West. Abraham 
Thompson was, of course, sent to New York. 

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Varick showed himself a man of superior executive ability in the 
appointments made this year. He sent his older men to the strong stations, 
but sent his younger men to the missionary points. The results show how 
wise he was in thus distributing his men over the territory then occupied. 
Varick, like every other man who has attained a prominent position among 
his fellows, especially when the road to success was questioned by and 
competed for by other strong men, who were associated with him in the 
movement, had his difficulties to overcome from the very beginning of the 
movement, and had to show the best of diplomacy to the closing days of his 
life. But a real leader proves his ability to lead by doing just these 
things. To have failed to harmonize these conflicting interests would have 
proven his unfitness to lead. In the first place he had Abraham Thompson 
to deal with. Abraham Thompson was an older man than Varick, and often 
showed both by word and deed that he felt that he ought to be head of the 
new denomination. Varick needed him, and so he often put Thompson in 
prominent places to satisfy his ambition. Then there was William Miller, 
who was a man of some prominence, but very unreliable, being in and out of 
the church all the while. He proved to be a thorn in Varick's side. Then 
there were those who criticised Varick for keeping in such close touch 
with the Methodist Episcopal Church. They wanted him to have an open 
rupture with that church. But Varick had too much good sense 

Page 49

for that, for all that he was he owed to the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
Then there were those in his own rank who criticised Varick severely for 
his considerate treatment of Bishop Allen at the time when Bishop Allen 
came to New York to establish a church, the nucleus of which was George 
White, William Lambert and others who had been formerly identified with 
Zion Church. It was a trying ordeal, especially with a disaffection that 
then prevailed in Zion Church. But Varick was calm and collected and was 
eloquent in his behavior. He not only attended one of Bishop Allen's 
meetings, but actually opened one of the meetings. Christopher Rush, who 
was the strongest man in Zion Church after Varick, and afterward became 
Bishop, never forgave Varick for this act. He claimed that Bishop Varick 
was untrue to Zion in treating Bishop Allen with so much consideration, 
who was there organizing a church composed so largely of dissatisfied 
members of Zion Church. But the fact that Varick was able to rise superior 
to all these obstacles and exhibit such a noble spirit under such trying 
conditions is another evidence of the greatness of the man. The fact that 
he succeeded so well, shows that he was not only well qualified for his 
difficult task, but was sustained by God through it all. Varick's toil and 
sacrifice for the race and the glorious success which crowned his labors 
will make his name to be loved and revered by all lovers of the race. But 
Varick was now ripe in years and had accomplished wonderful things in 

Page 50

life and well earned the reward that was now near at hand. The Conference 
which convened in New York City May 17, 1827, was the last Conference 
presided over by James Varick. Varick had toiled hard and with great 
patience to establish a denomination for his race where they could worship 
God according to the dictates of their own conscience. He lived to see 
this long cherished desire realized. This church had become a fixity among 
the religious bodies of the world. In his home on Orange street while his 
sons Daniel and Andrew and his two daughters, Emeline and Mary, were still 
living and in good circumstances, and no doubt were with him to the last, 
James Varick breathed his last. He had presided over every session of the 
Conference, annual and general, of his church from its organization up to 
the time of his death, and the gavel which he wielded so well for many 
years, even before he was elected Bishop, he laid down in death. The gavel 
thus laid down by Varick was taken up by Christopher Rush. Varick had made 
for himself a name among the great men of earth. That name has now become 
a household word to hundreds of thousands of souls who have been brought 
to God through the instrumentality of the church which he founded. Again, 
let us thank God that there was ever a man sent from God whose name was 
James.



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CHAPTER XIII. 
BRIEF SKETCH OF AUTHOR'S LIFE.

   Benjamin Franklin Wheeler was born February 6th, 1854, in Charlotte, N. 
C. The early part of his life was clouded with experiences of hardships, 
incident to human slavery. At six or seven years of age he was hired out 
by his owners as a child's nurse. The wages paid was "victuals and 
clothes." He was later hired out to Rev. Pritchard, pastor of Tryon Street 
Methodist Church, South, Charlotte, N. C., "as house boy." The wages paid 
his owners was the same as before. At the close of the war he was living 
with his owner, Mr. Charles Spratt, at Morrow's Turnout, now called Piney 
Grove. He was then eleven years old. He went from Morrow's Turnout into 
town and saw the "Ankies" for the first time. He attended the schools 
established in Charlotte by the Freedmen's Friends Association. When he 
was not at school he was working in cotton fields or working on the brick 
yard. He next ran away from home, though but a boy, and hired to a man to 
go to Ten-Mile Point (ten miles from Charleston, S. C.), to labor in the 
phosphate works. Tough all the rest were men but himself, he intended to 
get rich at this, and return home and lord it over the rest of the boys. 
But all the workmen were cheated out of their money and those who got home 
at all had to walk, he among the rest. He walked from Charleston, S. C., 
to Charlotte, N. C., two hundred and thirty miles, in 

Page 52

company with three others who were grown young men. They had to beg for 
bread along the way home. Because he was small the other three made him do 
the begging, while they waited at the roadside or under the trees. Many of 
the houses sat far back into the yard and he was dreadfully afraid of 
dogs, as most people through that section of country kept very bad dogs. 
He says of these begging trips, "The most the people gave me was corn 
bread. Now and then a family would give me some wheat bread with the corn 
bread. In such cases I generally ate the wheat bread by the time I reached 
the other boys, and had only the corn bread to give them." He now worked 
in hotels in Columbia, S. C., in Charlotte, N. C., and in Raleigh, N. C., 
for two or three years, and then he and his friend Preston Hall made their 
way to New York City. All through his life up to this time he had lived in 
abject poverty. A widowed mother with five children had done the best she 
could to keep clothes on their backs and food enough in their stomachs to 
keep them living, and give them a little schooling. In New York he struck 
a wild set of boys who had preceded him from the South. But he was soon 
converted in Mother Zion Church, corner of West Tenth and Bleecker 
streets. He felt called to preach at once, but determined to attend school 
as a preparation for the ministry. He went to Oberlin, Ohio, and entered 
the preparatory department of Oberlin College, where he spent five years. 
In 1882 he entered th Sophomore Class of Lincoln University 

Page 53

and graduated in 1885. As his scant savings gave out at Oberlin he used to 
do all kinds of work to pay his way in school. He says of these times, "I 
used to saw wood from four o'clock in the morning by lantern light 
standing in snow knee deep, while the wind blew like a hurricane. When I 
had sawed all the wood and could get nothing else to do, I boarded myself 
a while. I bought a tin tea pot for ten cents and a frying pan. All my 
cooking was done in these two vessels. A little tea and a great deal of 
water and a little brown sugar constituted my beverage for breakfast. I 
would make one egg and a little bread with a good deal of weak tea 
constitute my meal, and thus I would live until I could get another job." 
After graduating from Lincoln University with the degree of A. B., he 
entered the Theological Department of the same school, from which he 
graduated in 1888 with the degree of Bachelor of Sacred Theology. While 
pursuing this course in Theology he was employed as instructor in Greek in 
the preparatory department. So, for this extra literary work he had 
conferred on him by his Alma Mater the honorary degree of A. M. He next 
went to Drew Theological Seminary and repeated his senior year in Theology 
with special reference to Methodist Church polity. In addition to the 
regular Seminary course he took extra studies in Belles Letters. On 
graduating in 1899 the degree of B. D. was conferred on him by Drew 
Theological Seminary. On joining the New Jersey Conference he wanted the 
smallest charge in the Conference, and was sent to 

Page 54

Somerville Circuit, which consisted of Somerville and Flemington. At 
Somerville there were a good many colored people, 450, but no place of 
worship. At Flemington there was a little church (greatly in debt), but no 
people. He had no money and the people seemed to have none, and after 
preaching at Flemington in the morning on Sundays he walked sixteen miles 
to Somerville to preach at night. Somerville was without a regular 
organization. There was no house of worship and no land on which to build 
one, and the minister who had been there last had left because, as he 
said, he could get nothing upon which to live. All they could promise the 
new pastor was his board and lodging. He agreed to the arrangement and 
went to work. But it was found that the board of the pastor was costing 
sixty cents a day, twenty cents a meal. He had told them at the beginning 
that there must be no debts. But the pastor's board at the rate of sixty 
cents a day was causing a debt, hence a meeting of the church was called 
to adjust the matter. After discussing the matter thoroughly and no 
adjustment was in sight, the minister suggested a way out, and that was 
that the minister should only eat two meals a day. All agreed to this, and 
all hands went to work again. Soon a revival was held in which many souls 
were converted and the church more than doubled its membership. A 
beautiful lot was bought on one of the best streets in the town, on which 
to erect a church. Soon a new church was erected, and great prosperity 
attended 

Page 55

the work, and after four and a half years' labor this church had grown to 
be the largest and best in the Conference, paying its pastor more salary 
than any other church in the Conference, and the entire church property, 
costing over five thousand dollars, being entirely free of debt except 
five hundred and fifty dollars. This was the church that was without 
organization four years and a half before, and could only give its pastor 
board and lodging, and only two meals at that, as a salary. But no church 
he has had since has ever given him more pleasure to serve than this. He 
next went to Jersey City, where in one year many of the floating debts 
were paid and a large congregation gathered. Then the Bishop appointed him 
Presiding Elder of the District. But so strong was the protest made by the 
people against his leaving that the Bishop had to come on and reconcile 
them. After two years in the Presiding Eldership of the Conference he was 
transferred to the Western New York Conference and placed in charge of the 
church at Ithaca, N. Y. Here phenomenal success attended his labors and 
the heavy debt on the church paid in its entirety, except four hundred and 
fifty dollars, and a deed secured for the property. He was then placed in 
the Presiding Eldership of one of the Presiding Elder's District of the 
Conference. At the end of the first year the two districts were united and 
he was placed at the head of it. Signal success followed his labors until 
the end of four years, when he asked to be released. He also asked to take 
one 

Page 56

of the smallest places in the Conference, and asked that the minister 
having charge of this small place should be given his place as Presiding 
Elder. This he did especially, so as not to have any of the men in the 
larger stations removed to make a place for him. The Bishop did not want 
to give him so small a place, coming down as he had come, from the 
Presiding Eldership. But he insisted, and the Bishop finally agreed, and 
he was placed at Oneida, N. Y., which church had eight members. This is a 
beautiful little church and a nice set of people. A house for a parsonage 
was bought and the church property generally improved. The parsonage had 
seven rooms and was splendidly located. At the end of the year this little 
church with eight members, with the hearty co-operation of pastor and 
people, had raised over twelve hundred dollars, paying the pastor six 
hundred dollars and parsonage, and leaving only four hundred dollars due 
on the splendid seven room parsonage. It is but fair to state that the 
good white friends of the town generously helped in the work. His next 
charge was Auburn, N. Y. Here in connection with the church work he 
secured to the denomination the Harriett Tubman Home, beautiful property 
situated on South street, valued at at least ten thousand dollars. The 
Auburn Church was beautified in the interior and raised more in Conference 
claims during his pastorate than at any time of its history. From Auburn 
he was sent to Mobile, Ala., one of the largest and most beautiful 
churches owned by the race. It has a splendid 

Page 57

membership, made up of some of the most intelligent, wealthy and 
influential people of color in the city. Here at this historic church, the 
oldest of any Negro church in the city, his labors have been abundantly 
blessed. Between four and five hundred have been added to the church, and 
the Conference claims of the church almost doubled to what they were 
before.

   The first General Conference he attended was in Newbern, N. C., 1888, 
and has attended all the General Conferences since then. He received forty-
three votes for the Bishopric in Mobile, Ala., in 1896. At the same 
General Conference he was elected General Secretary of Education of his 
church, and served four years, when he asked to be relieved.

   In 1896 the degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred on him by 
Livingstone College after the delivery of the baccalaureate sermon. The 
same degree was conferred on him later by Lincoln University.

   Among his literary works may be mentioned A Translation of Cicero's 
First Invective Against Catiline, Delivered in the Senate Nov. 8, B. C. 
63; History of the Somerville Church; Cullings From Zion's Poets, now 
ready for publication. Besides many articles for magazines and newspapers.

Page 58

AMELIA GERTRUDE WHEELER.

   Dr. Wheeler was married June 16th, 1896, to Miss Amelia Gertrude Craig, 
of Somerville, N. J., Rev. M. M. Edmonson performing the ceremony. They 
were married at the beautiful residence of the bride's parents, Mr. and 
Mrs. Charles Craig, 95 Hamilton street. She had attended the public 
schools of the city, and had special training in instrumental music. She 
and her older sister had for years conducted a hair dressing establishment 
on Main street in Somerville, where they had the leading people of the 
city as their patrons. At the time of her marriage she was the organist of 
the A. M. E. Zion Church at Somerville, of which church she was a member. 
After marrying she entered heartily in sympathy with her husband's work. 
Having become proficient as a typewriter, she serves as typewriter in all 
of his correspondence. She is greatly liked by all the people whom her 
husband has served as pastor since their marriage. But she is quiet of 
manner and never pushes herself to the front, but always prefers to remain 
in the background, where she watches every interest pertaining to her 
husband's welfare. She was born in Somerville, N. J., in the same house in 
which she was married.

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B. F. WHEELER

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