Page:History of West Hoboken NJ.djvu/87

 THE CHURCHES OF WEST HOBOKEN. is known that the First Presbyterian and St. John's Churches, beyond doubt, are our two oldest churches, but previous to the establishment of either, religious services were conducted in a silk factory, situated at that time on Hague street and owned by a person named McRea. The services here were conducted by any minister that could be procured, snd no regard was paid to the denomination which he represented. It is claimed by some of the members of St. John's Church, that the people who were in the habit of worshipping in this silk factory formed the neucleus [sic] of the present Episcopal Church. Beyond hearsay evidence I could not procure any definite assurance that this is a fact; on the other hand the records of the Presbyterian Church say that their congregation was formed by the members of the aforesaid undenominational church, who adopted the Presbyterian faith after an attempt had been made by them to organize a Congregational Church.

It would seem by this that the Presbyterian is the oldest church, but it must be borne in mind that the congregation of St. John's, as present constituted, is older than that of the Presbyterian, for the reason that the Presbyterian's Church congregation was at onceone [sic] time a Congregational Church, while the Episcopal Church has never been anything else but an Episcopal Church. Let it also be remembered that the Ecclesiastical Society of West Hoboken, which was the beginning of the Presbyterian Church, was organized in 1844, and the Episcopal Church organized in 1846, two years later. A fact that is not disputed by anybody, is that the first church building in our