Posted by Communications Liaison Ellie Simpson, thanks to Archivist Jon Coss.
On New Year’s Eve, 1922, from 11 pm to midnight, four Pelham churches joined to celebrate a Watch Night Service, held at the Huguenot Memorial Church. Christ’s Church, the Church of the Redeemer, Congregational Church of the Pelhams, and Huguenot pledged “to promote a closer fellowship in worship and service.”
Rev. Morris (left). Card commemorating Watch Night on New Year’s Eve, 1862.
Later that January, Huguenot sponsored a series of eight evening services, led by Rev. Robert Hugh Morris, the charismatic 20-year-old pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Haddonfield, New Jersey. On Sunday, January 28, opening night, 130 people attended. By closing night on Sunday, February 4, about 300 showed up. Around 200 of them pledged to renew their faith with signed cards, dedicating themselves to Christian service and worship. The Pelham Sun said, “When he speaks from the pulpit his messages burn with the zeal of an ancient prophet.”
The tradition of Watch Night goes back to early Moravian churches, when members observed New Year’s Eve with a vigil to reflect on the past year and look forward to the next. Methodist leader John Wesley adopted the practice for his followers. During the Civil War, enslaved people in Confederate states gathered in churches and homes on the night before the Emancipation Proclamation became effective on January 1, 1863.
Huguenot’s Watch Night Service took place on the 60th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. Leading up to it, the Lincoln Memorial was dedicated in May 1922 and Frederick Douglass’ house in Washington, DC, became a national shrine in August 1922.
Sources:
Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Watch-Night
Find a Grave. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/197562018/robert_hugh-morris
HMC Archives, Session Minutes, Vol. 4, 31 Dec 1922. Jan 1923.
National Museum of African American History & Culture. “The Historical Legacy of Watch Night.” https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/historical-legacy-watch-night
Pelham Sun. “Doctor Morris a Preacher of Unusual Power. Congregations at Union Services Show Steady Increase.” 2 Feb 1923. https://news.hrvh.org/veridian/cgi-bin/senylrc-pelham
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