The Lost Madison Avenue Baptist Church - 131 Madison Avenue

 

 photo by Byron Company, from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

 

Organized in 1838, in 1849 the Rose Hill Church changed its name to the Lexington Avenue Baptist Church.  Three years later, in 1852, the congregation moved into a newly built brick structure at 154 Lexington Avenue, at the corner of 30th Street.  Its residency would be short-lived.  In 1859, the Lexington Avenue Baptist Church began construction of a new building at the southeast corner of Madison Avenue and 31st Street.

Architect Henry C. Dudley's Gothic Revival design exhibited influences of the Sicilian Romanesque and Tuscan styles.  The centered entrance sat within a projecting portico below a large rose window.  Two asymmetrical bell towers rose high above the Murray Hill mansions in the neighborhood.

from the collection of the New York Public Library

According to the 1866 Practice Reports, the building "cost, including the lot and an organ...the sum of about one hundred and twenty-two thousand dollars."  The figure would translate to about $4.48 million in 2025.  By May 1860, the congregation moved into the uncompleted structure and changed its name to the Madison Avenue Baptist Church.  On May 19, The New York Times reported, "The Vestry of the Madison-avenue Baptist church (corner of Thirty-first street) will be opened to-morrow at 10 1/2 A.M.; preaching by Rev. Dr. Hague."

The building was dedicated on January 6, 1861.  The organ that was included in Practice Reports figures was built by Henry Urban, one of the most respected organ builders in the country.  On February 13, 1861, The New-York Tribune reported, "A concert will be given this evening in the Madison Avenue Baptist Church, at which the capabilities of the very fine organ of the church will be shown for the first time."

On April 12, 1861, four months after the church was dedicated, the first shot in the Civil War was fired.  The congregation quickly showed its patriotism.  The "ladies of the church" met on April 28 to discuss how they could help the cause.  The New York Times reported, "as a great many persons were making lint [the linen or cotton material used for dressing wounds] and bandages...they [will] confine their efforts to making up flannel garments and wrappers."  And the following week, on May 5, the New-York Tribune reported, "A splendid flag was raised on the tower of the Madison Avenue Baptist Church, corner of Thirty-first street and Madison avenue, yesterday afternoon at 6 o'clock, with appropriate ceremonies."

While the wealthy, white congregation fully supported the Union's cause, the members were less comfortable with that cause getting too close to home.  A member named Howell attempted to purchase a pew but was refused.  He sued the church in the fall of 1862.  The New-York Tribune reported on November 22 that the church explained that Howell, "had purposely annoyed the congregation by sending negroes into the pew."  The court sided with the Madison Avenue Baptist Church.

photo by Byron Company, from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

The congregation merged with the Oliver Street Baptist Church in 1862.  Included in the negotiations (which apparently the trustees of the Oliver Street Baptist Church did not closely examine) was the transfer of that church's assets to the Madison Avenue Baptist Church.  The amiable alliance fell apart when the former Oliver Street congregation tried to sell $5,000 worth of Poughkeepsie city bonds and discovered they no longer owned them.

A highly visible, 14-year-long court battle resulted.  On February 2, 1873, the New York Herald reported that Judge Sedgwick of the Superior Court had decided in favor of the Madison Avenue Baptist Church.  The decision did not repair the schism within the congregation, but only worsened it.  The Baptist Encyclopaedia said, 

The old and honored Oliver Street church had united with the Madison Avenue church, but when the courts decided that the Oliver Street church was not legally the owner of the church property, the latter withdrew with Dr. [Joseph F.] Elder, and are now building a church edifice which promises to be in all respects quite equal to the spacious and beautiful house which they left in Madison Avenue.

In 1876, the church was closed "for repairs," as worded by The New York Times.  In fact, the work was more about redecorating.  On December 11, 1877, The New York Times said that the church "was thrown open last evening for the inspection of the public, and was visited by a large number of ladies and gentlemen, all of whom expressed themselves well pleased with the new and tasteful appearance of the interior of the edifice."  The article said that $12,000 was spent in the "redecorating and refitting the church."  It described:

The apex of the chancel arch is painted a torquois [sic] blue, with gilt stars, and the grand arch, over the body of the church, is an azure blue.  All the frescoing is on solid wood, or plaster of Paris, and the gilding of the finest gold leaf.  The organ has been repainted and redecorated, and put in thorough order, under the supervision of Mr. Henry Erbin [sic], its original builder.

Rev. Dr. C. D. W. Bridgman became pastor of the Madison Avenue Baptist Church in March 1877.  His sermon on February 15, 1891 sparked a firestorm when he included the Bible passage: "If thy hand offend thee, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands, to go into hell."  Baptist theology rejected the possibility of Christians' going to hell following Christ's promise of redemption.  Despite having served as "its popular pastor," as described by the New-York Tribune, for 14 years, the newspaper titled an article on April 30, 1891, "Dr. Bridgman Resigns / A Question Of Doctrine The Cause."

photographer unknown, from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

Bridgman's resignation initiated a list of short-lived pastorships.  In February 1901, his successor, Rev. Dr. H. M. Sanders resigned, saying, "he thought a younger man ought to take his place," reported the New-York Tribune.

He was replaced by Rev. George C. Lorimer, who died in Aix-les Bains on September 8, 1904.  The Rev. Dr. Kerr Boyce Tupper accepted the pastorship on May 22, 1905.  He was replaced by Dr. Charles A. Eaton, who resigned in February 1918 to accept the "leadership of the national service section of the United States Shipping Board."  His politically-charged last sermon here on April 27 condemned Germany and the U.S. President.  A headline in The Sun read, "Dr. Eaton Consigns Germany To Hell," and the article said, "Speaking for the last time at the Madison Avenue Baptist Church, which he is leaving, the pastor accused the President of 'squirting rosewater at the Germans.'"

Eaton was replaced with the Rev. Dr. George Caleb Moor, but his tenure, as well, would be short.  In 1922, a group of members accused him "of immorality" with "an eighteen-year-old girl," according to the New-York Tribune on February 17.  The accusers were expelled, but they took their case to the Baptist Council.  On June 11, the New York Herald reported that they were "vindicated."  The Southern New York Baptist Association called "the situation detrimental to the church," as reported by newspaper.

At the time of the upheaval, the neighborhood around the Madison Avenue Baptist Church had changed after six decades.  Once a refined, residential enclave, it was now a bustling commercial district.  Congregations nation-wide were turning to a new concept: the skyscraper church.  Parishes replaced their churches with office or apartment buildings that incorporated worship space within the lower floors.  

In 1929, the trustees of the Madison Avenue Baptist Church leased its property to the newly formed Madison Avenue-Thirty-first Street Corporation.  The venerable church building was demolished to be replaced with the Jardine, Murdock & Wright-designed, 15-story Roger Williams Hotel, which incorporated the Madison Avenue Baptist Church.

photograph by the author