First Reformed Church, Schenectady, NY
Audio Excerpts | Current Photo | Historic Picture

Interview with: Joan Ipsen
Interviewed by: Emily Carbone on 5/22/01

Carbone: This church has had a long history. Can you tell us anything about how the church has changed in appearance over the years?

Ipsen: There have been 6 buildings for First Reformed Church. The first building was very tiny. It was located over near Western Gateway Bridge and then as time went on it moved over to this present location. Three of the buildings were burned in fires and each time the congregation was strong enough to rebuild the church.

The building that we're in now is very large and impressive and has a lovely spire with Chanticleer at the top, is one that people really cherish in this area. Often they wait for the sound of the clock in the bell tower to set their own clocks. The rooster, which is at the top of the spire is a symbol from Holland which was used to represent life and enthusiasm in those churches and the people who started this congregation were Dutch, and so they brought this symbol with them.

Carbone: Are there any famous people associated with the church's history?

Ipsen: Another famous person is George Lunn and he was the minister from 1904-1909 and he was a very liberal person. He was very conscious of the fact that Schenectady was becoming a heterogeneous city and there were some fine industries going here such as ALCO and General Electric Company and that there employees were doing very well.

But there were also people in this city who were not so well off and this point of view of his was something that he stressed in his sermons. The congregation as a whole went along with him, but there were some people on the governing body of the church who perhaps belonged to this group of industrial people and they didn't see things quite the way George Lunn did.

Because of the differences of opinion, he felt he was a difficult person to have heading the church and he resigned. But he went on to become the mayor of Schenectady and, in fact, served 5 terms, so he really is a person of importance.

Carbone: Are there any secrets or legends associated with the church that the average person might not know about?

Ipsen: That question is one I had to think about. The one thing that might qualify as a secret or legend is a story about Jonathan Pierson, who was a professor at Union College. He was very interested in geneology and did a lot of work on early settlers here in Schenectady.

So it was only natural that he came here to look up the church records that had details about some of the families here. And there is a story about his hunting for an original deed for property on which the church might be built. That property was donated by Daniel Yancy Van Antwerp. And you'll recognize the Van Antwerp name because there is a Van Antwerp Rd. and a Van Antwerp School in Schenectady.

It said in his book, History of the Schenectady Patent, that the original deed was found in a bundle of ancient papers in a deacon's chest stored in the tower of the present church. This old package was wrapped in a piece of leather, tied with leather string and from appearance, may have been unopened in years. Its existence seemed to have been forgotten. I like to think of Jonathan Pierson upstairs in the tower, finding this chest and finding a paper that he was really interested in seeing.

 

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