Collection IDAcc. 2381

Size1 box

Collection Description Founded by Dutch settlers in 1697, the Belleville Reformed Church was originally known as the Old Dutch Church of Second River, with its first pastor being Reverend Berthoff. Throughout its history, the church underwent several structural improvements. The church's original building was replaced in 1725; after storm damage in 1804, a new edifice was dedicated in 1807. As church membership grew, there was a need for new construction and in 1853, the present building, at 171 Main Street, was dedicated, with the fellowship hall being added in 1895. The new building included several memorial windows. In 1915, an 8-rank pipe organ was purchased with matching funds from the Carnegie Foundation.

The churchyard of the Belleville Reformed Church is the final resting place of more than sixty Revolutionary War soldiers, as well as veterans of the War of 1812 and the Civil War. The church also welcomed the first Chinese immigrants to the area in 1870. The Church, which was placed on both the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places in 1978, celebrated its 300th anniversary in 1997.

Collection Contents The collection consists primarily of materials used in the preparation of a typescript translation of early records of the Second River/Belleville Dutch Reformed Church. The records date mostly from the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, when Belleville was closely associated with Newark. A note in the files suggests that the typescript was compiled by J. Riemer and others ca. 1991 and earlier. The original records are in Dutch; the collection includes a photostat copy of the original membership lists and handwritten transcriptions of these and other groups of records. The last folder in the collection (Folder 5) contains a bound copy of the typescript English translation of the Belleville records.

The Belleville records include the following: consistory minutes (1725-1770, 1773-1774, 1781, 1790-1794); record of elections (1726-1754, 1773, 1784-1793); register of baptism (1727-1794); membership lists (1728-1755, 1784-1786, including photostat copies of the original records); marriage bans and marriage records (1730-1776); treasurer's accounts (1740-1824); trustees' minutes (1794-1843). NOTE: Also in the collection is one file of handwritten transcripts of some early records of the Dutch Reformed Church of Bergen (Jersey City), beginning in 1666.

FormatTextual materials

SubjectReligion / Churches

Time Periods17th Century; 18th Century; 19th Century

LanguagesDutch; English

Access policyOpen for research