SUTPHEN, REV. PAUL FREDERICK (15 Jan. 1856-11 Aug. 1929) guided 3 significant local congregations during his career as a Presbyterian clergyman. A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., he was the son of Ten Eyck and Harriet White Sutphen. After graduating from Rutgers University, he studied for the ministry at Union Theological Seminary. He married Bertha Davies of New Jersey in 1878 and became pastor of a Presbyterian congregation in Valatia, N.Y.
Following further assignments in Minnesota and Elizabeth, N.J., Sutphen became pastor of Cleveland's Woodland Ave. Presbyterian Church (see WOODLAND HILLS COMMUNITY CHURCH) from 1886-93. He spent a brief period behind pulpits in Newark and Philadelphia before returning to Cleveland as pastor of Second Presbyterian Church at Prospect Ave. and E. 30th St.
Noted for his eloquence in the pulpit, Sutphen, in the words of one historian, "wrote a sermon as an artist paints a picture." More important, however, was his support for the work of RUSSELL and ROWENA JELLIFFE, which resulted in the establishment of the Playhouse Settlement (see KARAMU HOUSE). Sutphen was also a trustee of HIRAM HOUSE.
When Second Presbyterian merged with the Euclid Ave. Presbyterian Church in 1920 to form the CHURCH OF THE COVENANT, Sutphen was named associate pastor along with Dr. Alexander McGaffin of the Euclid Ave. church.
He resigned for reasons of health in 1926 and died in Cleveland, survived by his wife and 4 children: J. Walworth, Helen, Ruth Farnsworth, and Dorothy Bullard.