WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES DECEMBER 14, 2017 39
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
The former Glendale United Evangelical
Brethren Church was founded
in 1912, with the Reverend O. Panten
as its fi rst pastor. In examining the
baptismal certifi cate, we found what
appears to be the pastor’s signature.
Our research also brought us to an
Oct. 23, 1937 article in the Brooklyn
Daily Eagle titled “Glendale Church
Jubilee Program,” which mentions
briefly the Glendale Evangelical
Church’s 25th anniversary celebration
the following morning.
“The Sunday program will include
an early German service, a Bible
School festival, an English service
with the Rev. E. M. Glasow, district
superintendent and pastor, St. John’s
Church, as guest preacher, and an
aft ernoon union service when neighboring
pastors will present greetings,”
according to the Eagle article.
“The Glendale Church was started 25
years ago by the Rev. Charles Phillipbar
of Harrison Avenue Evangelical
Church as a missionary eff ort of the
Brooklyn Churches Atlantic Conference
of the Evangelical Church,” the
article continued. “Opening services
were held in a hall Nov. 3, 1912, but in
1913, the present property was secured
and a portable building erected. The
present pastor, the Rev. George F.
Schmid, came to the church ten years
ago and, under his pastorate, the present
building was erected and dedicated
May 12, 1929.”
The church was erected at the corner
of Central Avenue and what was
then called Hooker Street, which was
later renamed 66th Place aft er Queens
was converted into the “Philadelphia
system” of street naming.
In July of 1970, the predominantly
German Glendale Evangelical
Church merged with Christ Church
of Glendale-United Methodist, an
English-based congregation which
was established in 1896, to form the
Glendale United Methodist Church.
The merger came aft er both churches
became part of the United Methodist
Church.
Maspeth United Methodist Church
had been located on 58th Street in Maspeth
up until 2009, when the original
church was signifi cantly damaged by
a fi re. The church was torn down to
make way for housing, and the congregation
subsequently merged with
Glendale.
Today, the Glendale/Maspeth
United Methodist Church, still at the
corner of Central Avenue and 66th
Place, is as active as ever under the
leadership of its pastor, the Reverend
Dr. Philip Hardt.
As for the reference to Charlotte
Place, our best research found that
it was the former name of 60th Lane
-- but it’s located about five blocks
west of the Glendale/Maspeth United
Methodist Church site. We believe the
information Mr. Ropers provided may
have documented the baby’s fi rst outing
at a grandparents’ home on what
was then Charlotte Place.
REMEMBERING ST.
BRIGID’S FATHER YORK
Shortly aft er we profi led the history
of St. Brigid Church on the Ridgewood/
Bushwick border in Brooklyn, we
received a warm written letter of gratitude
from Gertrude Palmer of Massapequa
Park, Long Island. She writes:
Dear Old Timer,
My name is Gertrude Palmer and
my sister’s name is Florence Leitke. Our
maiden name is Semler. We both went to
school in St. Brigid, fi rst grade through
eighth grade. We were also married in
the church.
Our pastor was Father John C. York,
the most charitable person I ever met.
When we would get good report cards,
he would send us around the corner to
the butcher, and we were sent home with
a turkey or ham for our family.
Now I am 88 years old, and my sister
is 90 years old. We both graduated
from Bishop McDonald Memorial
High School and worked as secretaries
in New York City. I have seven wonderful
children, 15 grandchildren and two
great-grandchildren.
I received the Ridgewood Times from
my friend, Gloria Murphy, who receives
it in the mail. When she saw St. Brigid in
the paper, she mailed it to me. She lives
in North Carolina.
I was so happy to read about my
church, I thought I would send my information
and wonderful experience
about our school and church.
We are now in St. Rose of Lima for
over 60 years in Massapequa Park, Long
Island, New York.
Our thanks go out to Ms. Palmer for
her thoughtful letter. We did some additional
research into Father York’s
background, and it led us to a rather
remarkable photo courtesy of Ellen
Finklea, a Rochester, NY resident
who has her own genealogy blog.
In her own research, she came
across -- in (of all places) a thrift
shop -- a First Holy Communion
certificate for Ellen McNamara that
Father York signed at St. Brigid on
May 23, 1926. She continued digging
and found a 1912 picture of a priest
identified as Father York (shown
wearing a typical priest’s collar)
standing near former President
Theodore Roosevelt.
The photo predates Father York’s
1915 arrival at St. Brigid; prior to . As
we mentioned in our St. Brigid profile,
York had a number of friends
well-connected in the political
theater, including Roosevelt -- our
nation’s 26th president, former New
York governor and former New York
City police commissioner. In fact,
York invited Roosevelt to a charity
function benefitting St. Brigid, but
TR politely declined.
We are most intrigued by this discovery,
and would love to hear from
other readers who may be related
to Father York or whose parents or
grandparents may remember him.
If you have memories to share
with us, send an email to editorial@
ridgewoodtimes.com (subject: Our
Neighborhood: The Way it Was) or
write to The Old Timer, ℅ Ridgewood
Times, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361.
Any mailed pictures will be carefully
returned to you upon request.
Photo courtesy of Ellen Finklea
Monsignor John York (in collar), former pastor of St. Brigid Church, is
shown in this 1912 picture near former President Theodore Roosevelt