USA > New York > Columbia County > Hudson > Centennial of Christ Church, Hudson, New York : 1802-1902 > Part 1
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Gc 974.702 H86h 1415143
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01177 1752
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/centennialofchri00gris_0
CHRIST CHURCH.
Centennial C
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Christ
Church
Tudann, Nem Work
CHUR
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CH
HUD
ON
Original Seal
Gc 914. 702 H 86h
1802
1902
Bryan
Hudson, Nem Bork :
1415143
COMPILED BY THE RECTOR, REV. SHELDON MUNSON GRISWOLD, BISHOP-ELECT OF SALINA, AND WILLIAM H. SCOVILL, JUNIOR WARDEN. PUBLISHED BY THE VESTRY.
Oftirera of the Church 1902
Rector
REV. SHELDON MUNSON GRISWOLD, D.D.
Wardens
JOHN M. PEARSON, Sr. Warden WILLIAM H. SCOVILL, Jr., Warden
Vestry
CHAS. W. BOSTWICK
JAMES A. EISENMANN
SAMUEL B. COFFIN
HERMAN LIVINGSTON
REV. ALBERT E. HEARD
R. A. M. DEELEY
STANLEY Y. SOUTHARD
EDMUND SPENCER
Certificate of Incorporation
W E the Subscribers, Bethel Judd, Rector of Christ Church in the City of Hudson, in the County of Columbia and State of New York, and John Keeney and William E. Norman, Members of the said Church according to the Form of the Act of the Legislature of the State of New York passed the twenty-seventh Day of March, 1802, entitled "An Act to provide for the Incorporation of Religious Societies," do hereby certify, that on Wednesday the fifth Day of May in the Year of our Lord one thou- sand eight hundred and two, the Male Persons of full Age of the Church aforesaid which is in Communion with the Protestant Episcopal Church in this State who have belonged to the said Church for the last twelve Months, and have been received therein and have attached themselves to the protestant Episcopal Church, met, according to public Notice given in the Time of Morning Service on two Sundays previous thereto, according to the said Act, for the Purpose of incorporating themselves under the said Act, and by a Majority of Voices to elect two Church Wardens and eight Vestrymen, and to determine on what Day of the Week, called Easter Week, the said Offices of Church Wardens and Vestrymen should annually thereafter cease and their Successors in Office be chosen ; at which Election the said Bethel Judd pre- sided and we do further certify that John Powell and Hezekiah L. Hosmer were at the said Election
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Christ Church Parish
elected Church Wardens by a Majority of Voices, and that John Talman, Henry Malcolm, Chester Beldine, John Kemper, Henry Dibble, Richard Bolles, James Hyatt and James Nixon Junior were elected by a Ma- jority of Voices, Vestrymen-And further that Wednesday in Easter Week was fixed on as the Day when the said Offices of Church Wardens and Vestry- men shall annually hereafter cease, and their Succes- sors in Office be chosen-And further that the said Church shall be known in Law by the Name or Title of "The Rector, Wardens and Vestry of Christ Church in the City of Hudson."
In witness whereof we have hereunto set our Hands and Seals this fifth Day of May in the Year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and two.
Sealed, signed and delivered In Presence of
BETHEL JUDD
JOHN KEENEY
The Word "that"' in the Second WM. E. NORMAN
Page being first interlined.
JOSEPH PRENTICE WM. STANTON.
Columbia ss. Be it remembered that on the Sixth Day of May in the Year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and two before me Stephen Hogeboom one of the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas of the County of Columbia, came William Stanton one
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Hudson, New York
of the Subscribing Witnesses to the preceding Certifi- cate, to me well known and made Oath that he is well acquainted with Bethel Judd, John Keeney and William E. Norman in the said Certificate described, and that he saw the said Bethel Judd, John Keeney and William E. Norman execute the same freely for the Uses therein mentioned-and that he the said William Stanton and Joseph Prentice to him well known, severally subscribed their Names as Witnesses to the Execution thereof-And I having examined the same and finding therein not material Erasures or Interlineations (except the one noted) do allow it to be recorded.
STEPHEN HOGEBOOM one of the Judges of the Court of Com. Pleas for the County of Columbia.
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Historical Sketch
T HE information concerning the Church in Hud- son, the earliest days of its settlement, is very meagre. There is no reliable information as to any services of the Church of England being held during the time that the place was known as Claverack Landing.
There is on record a petition from John Frederick Harger, John Carb and Godfrey DeWolven, in behalf of sixty families of Churchmen living at East Camp, to Bishop Compton. This petition, which bears the date of October 8th, 1715, is for permission to build, at Kingsbury, a Church, sixty feet long and forty feet wide, and to collect by sub- scription the necessary funds for that purpose. Tra- dition states that Church families living at Claverack Landing, the old name for Hudson, were in the habit of driving up to Albany to take part in the celebrations of the great feasts of the Church, Christmas, Easter and Whitsunday, taking three days for the trip. Oc- casionally the clergymen from Albany would visit the Churchmen here, holding services and administering the sacraments at their houses. The Rev. Thomas Brown was in charge of St. Peter's, at Albany, from 1754 to 1768, and the Rev. Henry Monroe from 1768 to 1774. During the Revolutionary War these minis- trations were suspended and the people were deprived of the privileges of the Church until the time of Mr. Bostwick in 1775.
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1
THE FIRST CHURCH. (CORNER SECOND AND STATE STREETS.)
Christ Church Parish
About the time of the incorporation of the City of Hudson, 1785, services of the Episcopal Church were held by the Rev. Gideon Bostwick, who was at that time stationed at Gt. Barrington, Mass. This clergy- man was in the habit of driving over every fourth Sunday and at a later time every third Sunday, to offi- ate and preach. A subscription was raised to pay the expenses of his coming, although no remuneration was made to him. Money for this purpose was col- ยท lected by Peter R. Ludlow and by John Thurston, one of the original proprietors of the City of Hudson. The services were held first at an old school room on Diamond street, and afterward in the school house of Mr. Bliss, on what is now Chapel street, which fact is said to have given the name to the street. Mr. Bostwick made an effort to build a suitable Church, and a committee was appointed to collect subscrip- tions for the purpose ; after about five years a suffi- cient amount seems to have been raised, and then the Rev. Mr. Gardner succeeded to the work. Mr. Bostwick during the time of his ministration in Hudson baptised one hundred and nineteen persons and officiated at nine marriages.
The Rev. Walter C. Gardner was the first clergy- man of the Church resident in Hudson, and his parish embraced Claverack, Athens and Catskill as well. He came to the city in 1794. The parish was organized, which seems to have been called St. Paul's Church, John Talman and John Powell being the first Wardens. A plot of ground was given by the
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Christ Church Parish
proprietors of the city, on condition that a Church should be erected on the land so conveyed within five years ; it is not now known where this first lot was located, but it was afterward exchanged for a lot on the southeast corner of State and Second streets.
Mr. Gardner went to New York and made an appeal to the authorities of Old Trinity Parish ; this parish gave him two thousand dollars, on condition that the money should be used to purchase the church lot and parsonage. This condition was imposed upon the gift at the request of Mr. Gardner himself, but on this return the Vestry flatly refused to accept the money on those terms. This caused some feeling in the parish between the Rector and Vestry, "where- " upon Mr. Gardner left abruptly under somewhat " unpleasant circumstances, carrying with him the "grant from Trinity and two thousand dollars more, " being part of the funds raised upon Mr. Bostwick's " subscription paper." The partially completed church building was used as a store house and servi- ces were discontinued ; an English clergyman by the name of Hinley, who had a school in the city, some- times read the services of the Prayer Book, but there is no further reliable information as to the work of our Church in Hudson before the formation of the present parish.
On Wednesday, May 5th, A. D. 1802, a meeting of the members of the Episcopal Church in the City of Hudson was held in a school room of a Mr. Judd, public notice having been given of the meeting two
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Hudson, New York
previous Sundays at morning service. Apparently the services had been continued by the Rev. Mr. Judd, for the record shows that the Rev. Bethel Judd presided at the meeting, and election was had of Wardens and Vestrymen, and the first Wardens of the parish elected were John Powell and Hezekiah Hosmer.
The first Vestrymen elected were, James Hyatt, John Talman, Henry Malcolm, Henry Diblee, John Kemper, Chester Belding, Richard Bolles, James Nixon, William E. Norman, Secretary, and John Kenney, Treasurer.
It was resolved that the Church be known by the name and title of "The Rector, Wardens and Vestry of Christ Church in the City of Hudson ;" this therefore is the legal title at the present time.
It is interesting to note that in the month of June of this year, on the occasion of the Bishop's visitation, the Presbyterian congregation offered the use of their Church for the service. Work was commenced on the Church building June 22, 1802. The Rev. Bethel Judd was unanimously chosen Rector of the parish at the meeting held June 28th the same year.
Building committees were chosen, contracts let, and the work commenced in earnest on June 22d. The Parish of Old Trinity, in New York, had prom- ised them the sum of $1,500, payable when the Church was finished so as to be fit for service, but when the purchased materials had been exhausted,
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Christ Church Parish
and some of the contracts had expired, we find the following petition sent to that parish :-
"To the Honorable the Corporation of Trinity Church, New York :
The Petition of the Subscribers, Church Wardens and Vestrymen of Christ Church, Hudson (the Rev'd Mr. Judd, their Rector, being absent) Respectfully Sheweth that the members of said Church, being encouraged by the Liberal grant of Fifteen hundred Dollars from the Corporation of Trinity Church pro- ceeded to make contracts for the Compleation of the Church in the City of Hudson. That the work has progressed as rapidly as they could antisipate, and they have the most flattering prospect of having the Building so far finished in the neat and desent manner as to be fitted for the Celebration of Divine Service the ensuing Christmas. That the Body of the said Church externally, except the windows, is already finished. That the Window Sashes are Compleated and workmen are now engaged in setting the Glass. That within the said Church the floor and Pews togather with the front of the Gallery are finished, the walls are plastered, and nothing but the Pulpit, Reading desk, Clark's Desk and Chancel are wanted to com- pleate the Building; that the Tower, except the win- dows, is Sheltered from the weather and as nearly finished as our Resources, in addition to the sum granted to us, will at Present enable us to effect it."
After alluding at some length to the expiration of
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Hudson, New York
the contracts and the desire of the workmen for their money, it proceeds :-
"And Whereas the Winter is now advancing and there is the greatest probability that the water com- munication between this place and New York, which is much the Safest, will soon be Obstructed by the Ice. Your Petitioners therefore confidently hope that, taking all these circumstances into Considera- tion you will be pleased to advance to Mr. Henry Dibble the Sum of Money which was so liberally Granted, notwithstanding the Building is not yet compleated. And your Petitioners as in Duty bound will ever Pray." This was dated December 2nd, 1802, and was signed by all the members of the Ves- try. It is interesting as showing in what condition the Church was, as well as the difficulties which had to be contended against in its erection. But the Cor- poration of Trinity had learned caution by experience and replied through the Right Reverend Benjamin Moore, then Bishop of the Diocese, that when "the Church was actually completed so as to be fit for pub- lic worship" the money would be paid. Accordingly the churchmen strained every nerve and by Christmas day the Church was finished, except the tower. Services were held on that day for the first time, an octavo prayer book, presented by Thomas B. Jansen, of New York, and a royal quarto Bible, presented by Ashbel Stoddard, George Chittenden and William E. Norman, all of Hudson, as Christmas presents to the parish, being used.
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Christ Church Parish
The grant from Trinity was then received and the entire debt of the Church canceled. The ceremony of consecration was performed by the Right Reverend Benjamin Moore, on Sunday, Oct. 2nd, 1803. The certificate of consecration was duly signed by the Bishop and read by the Rev. Mr. Wilkins, who also read the prayers. The Rev. Mr. Chace preached the consecration sermon. At the close of the sermon about forty persons were presented for confirmation. Additional services were held on the Saturday eve- ning preceding and on Sunday afternoon and evening. The next year the deed for the lot, on which the Church had been erected, was obtained from the Mayor of the city. On Christmas eve, 1806, a beau- tiful glass chandelier, which had been presented to Old Trinity Church by Queen Anne, of England, and subsequently by them to Christ Church, Hudson, was hung in place.
The Rev. Mr. Watson, in his sermon on the history of the parish, referring to those times, says : "No one can look over the parish records of those early days, when that handful of men were endeavoring to erect those walls, tracing their doings in meetings from week to week, the steady coolness with which they stood up and breasted difficulties the most dishearten- ing, and the noble generosity with which one, then another, who had a little more of this world's goods than their fellows, came forward from time to time to defend the breach and supply at hazard what was needed for the present necessity, I say, no one can
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Hudson, New York
read those records, written, if not in blood, yet in characters which tell of self-denial and sacrifice, without feeling that they understood well their responsibilities and nobly discharged them."
The revenue of the Church was derived from the pews, which were sold at auction every year. The following notice appears in The Balance of December 21st, 1802. This paper was published weekly by Ezra Sampson, George Chittenden and Harry Croswell, father of the Rev. Harry Croswell, after- ward Rector of the parish :
"NOTICE is hereby given that on Wednesday, the 29th inst., the PEWS in the EPISCOPAL CHURCH in this city, will be leased at auction to the highest bidder, until Wednesday in Easter week in the year 1804. The auction will commence in the said Church at two o'clock in the afternoon.
By order of the Rector, Wardens and Vestry.
WILLIAM E. NORMAN, Sec' y."
From the records we learn that the forty pews in the Church were disposed of at prices ranging from three dollars and a half up to twelve dollars. One pew is listed as high as twenty dollars. Mr. Judd's salary was fixed by the Vestry as three hundred dol- lars a year for his services on every other Sunday. This fact, together with allusions in the minutes of the Diocesan Convention, to delegates to that body from Claverack, leads us to believe that the other
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Christ Church Parish
half of his time was devoted to that parish. Mr. Judd came to Hudson from Woodbury and Roxbury, Conn., which was his first parish. To him is due the credit for establishing here the first Sunday School outside the City of New York, the second oldest in the country. On January 5th, 1803, he submitted a plan to the Vestry, which was unanimously approved of by the parish, for the formation of "The Episcopal Sunday Charity School." Its management was vested in a board of seven, composed of the Rev. Mr. Judd, Messrs. John T. Lacey, John Talman, M. D., Hezekiah L. Hosmer, James Hyatt, Henry Malcolm, M. D., and James Nixon, Jr. This board was re-elected every year during Mr. Judd's rectorship. The Rev. Joseph Hooper, speaking of this school, says :
"It was a time when any special regard for chil- dren was thought unnecessary, and their religious instruction was confined to a monthly catechising at the Chancel rail, and teaching by their parents at home. It was a bold experiment, for Sunday Schools had not yet proved their right to exist. What it accomplished in the spiritual upbuilding of the chil- dren who attended it, and how many through it were brought to love the Church and her ways can not now be known. A memory of it remained in the parish, although Mr. Judd's successors returned to the monthly catechisings in the Church ; and it was not until 1822 that the present large Sunday School was organized."
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Hudson, New York
An editorial in The Balance of December 16th, 1806, on the establishment of the Hudson Academy, says "that with the exception of the Charity School, already opened under the auspices of the Society of Christ Church, there had been no provision for free education in Hudson."
Mr. Judd resigned the parish on October 20th, 1807 "in consequence of his Health, and the Climate not agreeing with his Constitution." A testimonial was tendered him by the Vestry expressing regret at his departure and their best wishes for the restoration of his health and for his future prosperity. A copy of his register for the years 1804 and 1805 shows twenty-seven baptisms, fourteen marriages, thirteen burials and two classes, amounting to fifty-five per- sons, presented for confirmation. From Hudson he went to Annapolis where he acted as principal of St. John's College and rector of Anne Arundell parish. He afterward held rectorships at Norwalk, and New London, Ct., Fayetteville, N. C., Sacketts Harbor, Sodus and Avon Springs, N. Y. His name was prominently mentioned as a successor to Bishop Jarvis of Connecticut, and also for a vacant Bishopric in North Carolina. Trinity College, Hartford, con- ferred on him the degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1831 when it was conferred for the first time on three American clergymen. He died in Wilmington, Del., in 1858, at the age of eighty-two years.
His character is summed up by Bishop Lee of Delaware, who said in his funeral sermon : "He was
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Christ Church Parish
a ripe scholar, an earnest, evangelical and effective preacher, a courteous gentleman, and a godly man."
On November 2nd, 1806, the Right Rev. Benjamin Moore, Bishop of the Diocese, sent a communication stating that the corporation of Trinity Church had pre- sented to Christ Church one of the glass chandeliers, which had been originally given to Trinity Parish by Queen Anne. The gift was accepted with a vote of thanks.
On June 12th, 1808, the Rev. Joab G. Cooper was elected Rector of the parish. Although the Vestry had found themselves unable to pay Dr. Judd more than three hundred dollars salary per year, they found themselves able to offer Mr. Cooper seven hundred dollars.
During the spring of 1809 a few improvements and some repairs were made about the Church. The former consisted of the finishing of the galleries and some work about the tower. The latter, however, was not finished until 1823. The woodwork both inside and outside was also painted. In the fall of this same year Mr. Cooper had procured subscriptions amounting to $300 toward buying an organ, with four stops, to cost $450. He informed the vestry of what he had done at a vestry meeting held in Sept., 1810, and then the following appears on the minutes : "It was agreed that as Mr. Cooper had contracted for this Organ without the advice or consent of the Vestry, the Vestry would receive the Organ provided on its arrival it meets their approbation." It was
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Hudson, New York
not put up until April, 1811, and it "went beyond the expectations" of even the Vestry, and cost the Parish $475. Mr. Cooper resigned from the Rector- ship in April, 1811. He was once described by one who knew him, as "pleasant in manners and agreea- ble in visits." During his time the brick work of the tower was completed, the galleries finished, the Church painted, and an organ procured. These may seem small things, but in that day they were great ; think of those four stops in the organ.
Mr. Cooper resigned at the annual meeting Easter week, 1811.
During the latter part of the year 1811, after Mr. Cooper's resignation had been accepted by the Vestry, efforts were made to raise sufficient funds to pay Mr. Cooper the arrears of his salary, and finally the Vestry were obliged to give him a "Certificate under the seal of the Church for what balance may be due to him." This "Certificate" may have been what is now known as a promissory note, at all events it was not cash.
At a meeting of the Vestry held October 7th, 1811, it was unanimously resolved to call the Rev. Mr. Prentice as Rector, and the committee appointed to notify him of the call were authorized to offer him a salary of three hundred and seventy-five dollars per year to officiate in the Church "one-half the Sabbath." Mr. Prentice accepted the call, and was instituted Rector on Sunday, October 13th, 1811, by the
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Christ Church Parish
Reverend Mr. Read of Poughkeepsie, appointed by the Right Reverend Bishop Hobart for that purpose.
From Easter week 1812 to 1821 the minutes of the vestry are lost, if any were kept, so that during a very interesting period we are deprived of all official knowledge of parochial affairs.
It has been said that the Church people were anxious to terminate the rectorship of Mr. Prentice in order to call Mr. Croswell, who had been the editor of the Balance, and had taken orders. However this may be Mr. Prentice resigned in 1814. He had resided in Athens, and had under his pastoral care the churches at Hudson, Claverack, Catskill and Athens.
His successor, Mr. Harry Croswell, had been for several years a brilliant political writer and editor, and had been an intense partisan and bitter opponent of Jefferson's administration, during which he had been indicted for libel against him as President of the United States, and had of course many political enemies. He entered upon his duties here Sunday, May 15, 1814, one week after his ordination. In that same summer, while on a visit to New Haven, he was requested on account of the serious illness of Rev. Henry Whitlock, Rector of Trinity Church in that city, to officiate the following Sunday. His pleasing manner and brilliant sermons charmed the congregation, and when Mr. Whitlock resigned that fall Mr. Croswell was called as his successor, and officiated there for the first time as Rector in January,
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Hudson, New York
1815. He lived until March 13, 1858, and died at the ripe age of 80 years and ministered to his people for 44 years.
Mr. Croswell was grave, dignified and impressive in manner, with that happy trait of character which secures the love as well as the reverence of the young. He was of commanding figure, over six feet in height, broad and stout. He is said by those who knew him to have been one of the ablest men who had presided over this parish as its Rector. Our Bishop, the Rt. Rev. William Croswell Doane was named after Mr. Croswell's son.
Dr. Beardsly in his history of the Church in Con- necticut, Vol. II, page 404, thus speaks of him :
"He so bore himself in his pastoral duties, so went in and out among his people, so preached and so prayed that the word of God grew and multiplied, and men of all shades of opinion and religious belief became reverent admirers of his fidelity to the Church, and of his kind attentions and ceaseless charities to the sick and needy."
The Rev. Gregory T. Bedell was Rector of the parish from June 15th in the same year until early in the year 1819. While here he married the daughter of John Thurston. Their son, who was afterward Bishop of Ohio, was born in this city August, 1817.
In the Spring of 1819 the Rev. Cyrus Stebbins was called from St. George's Church, Schenectady. Mr. Stebbins' rectorship was the longest in the history of the parish.
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Christ Church Parish
During Mr. Stebbins' rectorship the spire was completed on the church and a bell which was purchased in 1820 was hung in the tower 1823, the same bell was afterwards removed to the present Church and used until it was broken in 1893, after seventy years use.
Mr. Cyrus Curtiss, who until the end of his life was a constant friend and benefactor of this parish, was first elected to the Vestry April 2nd, 1823. Mr. Curtiss was instrumental in establishing the first Sunday School library May 1st, 1828. During the rectorship of Mr. Stebbins, the Vestry appropriated $1,500 of the gift received from Trinity Church for the purchase of a house on the northeast corner of Diamond and Second streets for a rectory. This house continued to be used as a rectory by the fol- lowing rectors :
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