USA > New York > Dutchess County > Hyde Park > Historical notes of Saint James Parish, Hyde Park-on-Hudson, New York, in commemoration of the belated centenary anniversary of the consecration of the first parish church, October 10, 1811 > Part 1
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GO 974.702 H99n 1752821
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01147 9612
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/historicalnoteso00newt 0
HISTORICAL NOTES
OF
Saint James
Parish
HYDE PARK-ON-HUDSON NEW YORK
IN COMMEMORATION OF THE BELATED CENTENARY ANNIVERSARY OF THE CONSECRATION OF THE FIRST PARISH CHURCH OCTOBER, 10, 1811
E. P. Newton
PRIVATELY PUBLISHED
THE A. V. HAIGHT COMPANY POUGHKEEPSIE, N. Y. 1913
840
1752881
F2312
FOREWORD
S O very many persons have willingly aided in this com- pilation that it seems best to omit all names of those to whom our thanks are due, except those of Dr. Ashton, who prepared most of the historical sketch of the par- ish in anticipation of the Centenary, and of Mrs. George Crapser Briggs, who served many hours as amanuensis.
Also as this booklet is but a compilation for the preserving in convenient form of historical data of interest, sources of such data have been freely drawn upon without acknowledg- ment, or the use of quotation marks.
E. P. NEWTON.
HYDE PARK
February, 1913.
东乐配家
HISTORICAL NOTES OF SAINT JAMES PARISH
HYDE PARK-ON-HUDSON NEW YORK
F OR its first foundation the parish is indebted to the zeal and liberality of Samuel Bard, M.D., LL.D., Presi- dent of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York City, seconded by the efforts of General Morgan Lewis, sometime Governor of the State, and a son of Francis Lewis, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, with the cooperation of Judge Nathaniel Pendleton, of Judge John Johnston, and others. Dr. Bard's biographer says: "In the year 1811, circumstances favoring its establishment, the church of Saint James at Hyde Park was erected, of which Dr. Bard was the founder, a term of distinction, not perhaps, strictly applicable, but morally just, as being the individual to whose unwearied exertions, and superior liberality, its suc- cess is to be attributed." Of his gifts for this enterprise he was wont to say "No equal expenditure of money has ever yielded me so large an interest."
4
Historical Notes of
The names of the contributors to the building fund are herewith given.
SUBSCRIPTION LIST
(See plates following page 16 for reproduction of original paper.)
THE NAMES HAVE BEEN REORDERED ALPHABETICALLY
We, the Subscribers, promise to contribute towards Building an Episcopal Church at Hyde Park, in Duchess County, the sums of money, services, etc., annexed to our names.
Ames, Henry
McClelland, Alexander
Bard, William
McVickar, John
Bard, Samuel
Mead, Samuel
Bard, Sarah
Muirson, Magdalena (Bard) Sister to Dr. Samuel Bard
Barton, Sarah (de Normandie) Aunt to Mrs. Samuel Bard
Mulford, David
Brahman, Cyrus
Pendleton, Nathaniel
Broome, William
Phillips, Andrew
Bush, Jacob
Post, Jotham
Cruger, Henry
Progue, George
De Cantillon, Richard
Ring, Louis
De Cantillon, Tobias
Robinson, Samuel
Duer, William, Alexander
Russell, Isaac
Dutton, Titus
Rymph, John
Gillespie, George de Normandie Gillies, David G.
Sherrill, Hunting
Hedding, Samuel
Spencer, Reuben
Hughes, Christopher, 2d
Stevenson, Timothy
Hutchins, Baron Steuben
Stoutenburgh, Isaac
Hyde, Christopher
Stoutenburgh, Tobias L.
Hyde, Lemuel
Whiley, R.
Johnston, John
Wickes, Silas
Lewis, Morgan*
Wright, L.
Livingston, James Duane
Selkrigg, John
These persons contributed a sum total of $2,576.75, which left a deficit of about $125.00 on the bills for construction. This was promptly raised and the building was clear of in- cumbrance, ready for Consecration.
The first building was of brick and stone, stuccoed and paint- ed yellow, with a short square battlemented tower at the west
*General Lewis, in addition to his cash subscription conveyed the title to a pew in old Saint Pauls Church, New York.
.
ha Henry Hobart.
.
CONSECRATED MAY 29, 1811, ASSISTANT TO THE BISHOP OF NEW YORK.
5
S. James Church
end. The walls within were whitewashed, and there were three windows on either side of the church, filled with small diamond panes of clear glass, no stained glass having been used in this old building. Two of these windows remain in the present church near the door. There was one aisle, six feet wide, marbled in blocks. Sometime later through the influence of Dr. Hosack, who bought "Hyde Park" in 1826, the pews were rearranged and two aisles made, which is shown in our cut, reproducing a paper dated 1837 .* The chancel was one step higher than the floor, and was furnished, after the manner of that day, now happily forgotten except by some older mem- bers of this generation, with "the triple decker," a high pulpit reached by stairways on either side, a reading desk in front below it on the second level, and still below, the communion table. The kneeling cushions, hangings and altar cloth were all of crimson damask. The west end organ loft, where was a small melodeon loaned by Miss Johnston, who herself volun- teered to serve as organist, was reached by a stairway from the vestibule to the tower.
The church was heated by two wood stoves at either end of the building, the pipes of which ran into huge drums supported on iron rods fastened upon the tops of the pews.
Such is the quaint picture of Saint James Church as it stood when consecrated, and as it appears in our photograph taken years later with the changes of time apparent in the growth of trees and other features of the surroundings.
On Thursday, October 10, 1811,t The Rt. Rev. John Henry Hobart, D.D., Bishop of New York, consecrated the church *See among plates following page 16.
+NOTE-On assuming duty as Rector of the parish I read the article in the Poughkeepsie Courier of October 8, 1912, which states that the Consecration took place on Oct. 12, 1811, and Dr. McVickar's Ordination on the 13. This statement, I learn, was based on some notes of 1870, or thereabouts, and I accepted it as fact, and the Anniversary was observed on those dates October 12, and 13, 1912-happily so observed as it gave a Saturday and Sunday for the celebration. Delving over parish archives in preparation for this book, Bishop Hobart's letter of Consecration, which follows, was brought to light and the first intimation of an error gained.
6
Historical Notes of
building, and upon the following day, Friday, the eleventh, he Ordered Deacon, in the new church, John McVickar, son-in- law of Dr. Bard, who became the first minister of the congrega- tion. His salary of two hundred and fifty dollars was appar- ently paid in a lump sum on January first.
"Be it known that I, John Henry Hobart, D.D., Bishop Assistant of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the State of New York, have, on this tenth day of October, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and eleven, duly consecrated a building erected at Hyde Park, in the town of Clinton and County of Dutchess, by the name of S. James Church; separating it henceforth from all un- hallowed, ordinary and common uses, and dedicating it to the service of Almighty God, for reading His holy word, for celebrating His holy sacraments, for offering to His glorious majesty the sacrifices of prayer and thanksgiving, for blessing the people in IJis naine, and for the perform- ance of all other holy offices; according to the use of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America.
In witness whereof, I have hereunder subscribed my hand this 10th day of October, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and eleven."
JOHN HENRY HOBART,
Bishop Assistant of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of New York.
The following contemporary evidence from The Church- man's Magazine for October, 1811, p 337, confirms the letter:
"On Thursday, the tenth of October, the Church lately erect- ed at Hyde-Park, near Poughkeepsie, the residence of Dr. Sam- uel Bard, was consecrated by the name of Saint James Church. The service of consecration was performed by the Right Rev. Bishop Hobart; after which morning prayer was read by the Rev. Mr. Prentis, of Athens, and a sermon preached by the Rev. Mr. Reed, of Poughkeepsie. This Churchi is a stone edifice, fifty by thirty feet on the inside; it is unusually neat and simple in its appearance, and does great credit to the taste and zeal of the families at whose expense it has been erected. "The succeeding day, October eleventh, there was divine ser-
7
S. James Church
Prior to this time those who formed the new congregation were communicants in old Christ Church, Poughkeepsie, and at the date of its organization it was the only parish on the east bank of the Hudson for a considerable distance above Poughkeepsie. There were sixteen resident communicants before the establishment of the parish, to wit :
Samuel Bard
Mary (Bard) Bard
John Johnston
Magdalena (Bard) Muirson
William Bard
Catharine (Cruger) Bard
Patrick Macartney
Susan (Bard) Pendleton
Sarah (de Normandie) Barton
Nancy (Bard) Pierce
Susan (Bard) Johnston
Betsy Macartney
Sarah Bard
Gertrude (Livingston) Lewis
Eliza (Bard) McVickar
Margaret (Lewis) Livingston
These formed a considerable nucleus for the development of parochial life.
On Wednesday, September 7, 1814, Bishop Hobart, Insti- tuted as Rector, the Rev. John McVickar, and confirmed twen- ty-eight persons. In 1817 thirty-one were confirmed, and in 1819 thirty-three, so increasing the roll of communicants in the parish. Parochial growth was steady and wholesome.
The first steps were taken before any formal parochial or- ganization was made. Upon Easter Monday, March 30, 1812, the first official meeting of the congregation was held, when "It was unanimously resolved that Saint James Church at Hyde Park should be the name by which the said church or Congregation should in future be known in law". The ques- tion has sometimes been raised whether the dedication were to Saint James, the son of Zebedee, or to Saint James the Less; whether the artist who designed the chancel window, and gave to the figured saint a club, which is the symbol of the latter,
vice and a sermon in the Church, and an ordination, when Mr. John McVickar, jun., was admitted by the Bishop to the holy order of Deacons."
In the "Life of John McVickar" the error in the date of the consecration is also found, and to this source may possibly be traced the mistake of 1870, which we unwittingly continued.
E. P. NEWTON.
8
Historical Notes of
did so under instruction or of his own artistic choice. The following statement seems conclusive "He (Dr. Bard) looked upon Christianity as a living fountain of good works, and se- Jected the name of Saint James for that of the church he found- ed, in reference to the great practical principle that Evange- list lays down, that 'faith without words is dead'."
At this meeting the following persons were unanimously elected as Church Wardens and Vestrymen.
SAMUEL BARD
Wardens MORGAN LEWIS
JOHN JOHNSTON
NATHANIEL PENDLETON
WILLIAM BROOME
WILLIAM BARD
CHRISTOPHER HUGHES, 2d
Vestrymen
JAMES DUANE LIVINGSTON
TITUS DUTTON
WILLIAM ALEXANDER DUER
The parish was admitted into union with the Convention of the Diocese of New York on October 6, 1812; Dr. Samuel Bard and Nathaniel Pendleton being its first lay delegates.
Dr. McVickar resigned November 10, 1817, to accept a Professorship in Columbia College.
On June 5, 1818, the Rev. David Brown was elected to suc- ceed Dr. McVickar as rector. He was instituted October 14, 1819, and resigned in February 1823. In 1820 the flagon, chalice and patten, which are still in use for the Holy Commu- nion, were presented by the women of the parish, and in 1826 the congregation gave the silver alms basin.
On February 2, 1824, the Rev. Samuel Roosevelt Johnson, then a deacon, was elected to minister to the congregation, and by this act of its vestry Saint James became the first parish of one of the saints of the American Church. He was ordained priest by Bishop Hobart in Saint James Church, August 1, 1827, and thereupon became rector. He resigned the rector- ship on October 10, 1833.
9
S. James Church
The first Sunday school records which have been preserved are of this period, and show an interest and activity which may well quicken the spirit of emulation in parishioners today. (See Appendix.)
The following account of the Sunday school is given during those years of Dr. Johnson's administration:
"The Sunday school was kept from May to November, com- mencing at 3 p. m., continuing until 5 p. m., when it was fol- lowed by the afternoon service and sermon."
About this time Dr. Hosack presented to the church a silver baptismal bowl, which it was the custom to stand upon the altar rail. When a marble font was presented to the church in 1840, this silver bowl was converted into a second chalice to correspond with the one given in 1820.
About the year 1832, Dr. Johnson caused a school house to be erected in the village, about three-fourths of a mile from the parish church, and in April, 1834, he presented the building and the lot on which it stood to the parish, and this, as we shall see, became the site of the present chapel. Miss Susan Mary Bard, who died in 1831, left in trust two thousand dollars, the interest of which was to be paid to the rector towards the maintenance of an infant school which was held here for many years.
In June, 1835, the first rectory of S. James was built, ad- joining the church.
Dr. McVickar made his home on his private estate on the river bank, having built a home for his bride, Eliza Bard, which was styled "Inwood" (now the home of Hon. F. G. Landon, which he has called "Mansewood" in commemoration of the fact that it was the residence of the first rector). Later he occupied a cottage opposite the church.
Dr. Brown, during his rectorship, was also a professor at Dr. Benjamin Allen's Classical School, which stood south of the village, on ground now owned by Mr. Archibald Rogers, and made his home there.
Dr. Johnson lived at Red House, which was built by Dr. John Bard, father of Samuel, and stood in the meadow just north of the church. This house was recently torn down.
10
Historical Notes of
The rectory was built for the Rev. Reuben Sherwood, D.D., who entered upon his duties as rector on Easter Sunday, 1835, and remained in that office until his death, Whitsunday, 1856. It stood north of and facing the church, with the gable end towards Albany avenue, or Broadway.
In 1839 Judge John Johnston gave the parish a folio edition of the Prayer Book "Printed by Hugh Gaine, at the Bible, Hanover Square, by direction of the General Convention of 1789"; and a folio Lectern Bible which has been in use until the present date, and from it future rectors, yet unborn, may read in years to come, as it shows today very few signs of age.
The Prayer Book is brought out and used on notable occa- sions.
In 1840 the parish received a gift of the marble font which bears the inscription, "The Eighth National Guard of the City of New York, H. C. Shumway, Commanding, to the Con- gregation of Saint James Church, Hyde Park, in Commemora- tion of their visit July 4th, 1840", and in notes to a sermon preached from 1 Tim. 6:12, by Dr. Sherwood before the com- pany on Sunday, July 5, is found the statement "Mr. R. E. Launitz, the artist, preceded with the font one day the com- pany, and with a zeal surpassed only by his skill set it himself in its present place." In the archives of the parish is preserved this letter:
New York, June 30th, 1840.
To the Rector, Wardens and Vestrymen of
S. James Church, Hyde Park.
Gentlemen: The members of the 8th National Guard of this city, ever mindful of past favors, and who are as ready to give as they are to receive, have unanimously agreed to pre- sent, through you, to the congregation of S. James Church a Baptismal Font, as a slight testimonial of their esteem for the inhabitants of your place generally, and in commemoration of their third visit to your hospitable town, on the anniversary of our nation's birthday. The undersigned therefore, being
SAINT MARGARETS CHURCH, STAATSBURGH.
...
.
€
THE OLD RECTORY.
11
S. James Church
constituted a committee, on behalf of the company, to carry out.their design, respectfully tender to your congregation the accompanying Baptismal Font to be placed in S. James Church, Hyde Park, and ask your acceptance of the same.
Yours respectfully, H. C. SHUMWAY JOHN ORMUND WM. A. DARLING HENRY BEERS HORATIO N. SQUIRE ROBT. E. LAUNITZ P. CRERAR
Mr. B. B. Dobbs remembers as a boy attending a target contest during the encampment, and seeing Dr. Sherwood present to the winner a new musket.
Colonel Daniel Appleton in a letter dated New York, No- vember 20, 1912, states that "Company H, or the Eighth Company (7th Regiment N. G. N. Y.) has had a continuous existence since 1826, and became the Eighth Company when mustered in the 27th Regiment now the Seventh". From the records of the 7th Regiment he quotes: "In 1837 the Eighth Company visited Hyde Park on July 15 and spent a pleas- ant week in that delightful locality. During that time it visited Poughkeepsie by invitation, and was hospitably enter- tained by the military and citizens of that place; and in 1840 on the afternoon of July 4, the Eighth Company visited Hyde Park for pleasure and military improvement. With a daily drill, occasional target practice, rides and rambles through the surrounding country, and an interchange of hospitalities with the people of the vicinity, the week passed pleasantly at Hyde Park. The company presented to the church at that place an elegant marble font, as a token of its appreciation of the uniform kindness which the people of that delightful locality had extended to its officers and members on this and on for- mer occasions."
In 1843 it was found that the church needed a new roof and
12
Historical Notes of
other repairs. Upon examination, it was discovered that the walls were unsafe, and a committee, appointed to report, ad- vised taking the building down and erecting a new one.
Therefore, a new and enlarged church was built on the site of the old one in 1844, half of the expense being borne by Mr. Augustus Thomas Cowman, who therefore, at this time, ser- ved the parish much as Dr. Bard did at its founding, with de- voted zeal and liberality, personally superintending the work. Mr. Cowman made a trip to Europe, which was not the simple matter in 1843 that it is today, to study church architecture in preparation for the contemplated work.
During the process of building, services were held in the rectory.
It was at this time (1844) that the Gothic revival was at its height in this country, and the black walnut ceiling with open timbered roof, is one of the finest specimens extant of that work in America.
Mrs. Curtis gave two stained glass windows, not memorials, at the time of this rebuilding, and the plain red, yellow and purple stained glass, which was used for the other windows, was some left over from the windows of the Church of the As- cension, New York city, and was given by that church to S. James. Two of these now remain, the others having been displaced by memorial windows.
The new edifice, barring some of its furnishings and deco- rations, was completed as we see it today, and services held in it the last of November, 1844. It was said at this time that there were twenty more families in the parish than the church could hold. It was consecrated by Bishop DeLan- cey, of Western New York, on the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels, September 29, 1846.
The striking feature of Dr. Sherwood's rectorhip is the mis- sionary spirit. It was manifested in the organization of the church of the Holy Apostles, Clinton, ten miles northeast of Hyde Park, and his labours there brought into the ministry of the Church the Rev. Albert D. Traver, who was successively Assistant Minister in All Saints Church, New York; Mission- ary at Esopus, Ulster County; and at Clinton, Duchess Coun-
€
INTERIOR OF S. JAMES CHURCH, 1912.
13
S. James Church
ty, and from 1846 to 1866 a devoted and beloved Rector of S. Pauls Church, Poughkeepsie. Dr. Sherwood also conduct- ed evening services in Staatsburgh, four miles north of Hyde Park, in the home of Isaac Russell, the postmaster. Later the waiting-room of the railway station was used.
In 1858 the frame chapel in Staatsburg, originally used by any body of Christians, was built through the liberality of Mrs. Margaret (Lewis) Livingston, and others.
On Thursday, February 10, 1848, by invitation of Dr. Sher- wood, there met in the old rectory seven of the clergy, who "did then and there, taking into consideration the state of the Church in Duchess County, resolve themselves into a meeting for extending the influence of the Church", and the Archdea- conry of Duchess was born.
The Rev. Horace Stringfellow succeeded Dr. Sherwood in 1856. His rectorship covered a period of less than four years; but in that time Saint James Chapel was built on the school lot given by Dr. Johnson, adjoining the school building. One writes: "I remember that my mother was much interested in the Chapel in Hyde Park to which she regularly walked every Sunday afternoon, with her three children ahead of her, and this after attending the morning service at the church. Those were good old days, when the Sundays were not kept as they are now, and I look back on them with affection."
The school building became a Sunday school and guild room, and a free reading room, in which is quartered a circula- ting library free to all village folk. The reading room was sup- ported for many years by Mr. Walter Langdon, Jr., and is now maintained by Mrs. Frederick W. Vanderbilt, while the library has Mrs. James Roosevelt for its patron.
On August 1, 1860, the Rev. James S. Purdy, D.D., became rector. His first wife was Miss Susan Bard Johnson, the daughter of a former rector, connected by blood with the early families, which made the choice doubly a happy one. He re- signed September S0, 1876, because of ill health. In 1871 the stone font was set up in the chapel, and in 1874 the brass eagle lectern was given to the church and, presumably, also at this time the white marble altar, gifts of Mr. and Mrs. Walter
14
Historical Notes of
Langdon, Jr., who also bore the expense of redecorating the church, and recarpeted church and vestry room on the occasion of the wedding of a niece Miss Emily A. Kane to Augustus Jay, October 3, 1876. One volume of vestry records has been lost which makes accurate statement difficult. It is interesting to note that the carpets served for thirty-six years, until Mr. and Mrs. Archibald Rogers laid new ones for the wedding of a daughter Miss Ellen Habersham Rogers to Kenneth Baker Schley, June 8, 1912.
Another item of interest is the following note from vestry records of April 14, 1896 "Thanks of the Vestry were extended to the Rev. Dr. Greer for hisdonation of hassocks for the church." S. Bartholomews was doubtless getting new ones. They are still in use and serviceable.
The Rev. Philander Kinney Cady followed Dr. Purdy, having been instituted as rector October 1, 1876, and serving the parish until 1887.
The work in Staatsburgh having grown, it became necessary to have a curate in charge thereof, and the Rev. Charles Lancas- ter Short was the first, serving from June, 1876, to June, 1880. He was followed by the Rev. Francis J. Clayton, July, 1880, until December, 1881, when the Rev. George W. Sinclair Ayres (now Archdeacon of Buffalo), took up the work on January 1, 1882, continuing therein until January, 1884. It was during Mr. Ayres' ministry that the mission was organized as a parish on April 15, 1882, and called Saint Margarets Church.
The frame chapel built in 1858 was consecrated April 24, 1882, by the Rt. Rev. Horatio Potter, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese, Dr. Cady preaching the sermon; and the parish was admitted into union with the Diocesan Convention in Septem- ber of that year.
The rectors of this flourishing daugliter of Saint James have been.
The Rev. Thomas Lafayette Cole, 1884-89 and 1898-1902.
The Rev. Pierre McDonald Bleecker, 1889-1897.
The Rev. Charles Henry Duncan, 1902, and still incumbent.
The cornerstone of the new stone church was laid by the Rt. Rev. Henry Codman Potter, D.D., on May 27, 1891; and
MARGARET LEWIS (MRS. MATURIN LIVINGSTON ) From a miniature owned by her greatgrandson, Mr. Stephen Chase.
WALTER LANGDON, JR.
15
S. James Church
the frame building has been converted into a reading room for general use of the village. The new church was consecrated October 4, 1898, by Bishop Potter.
During Dr. Cady's rectorate the beautiful Lych Gate, copied from one at Saint Marys Church near Torquay, England, was erected at the entrance to the grounds of Saint James Chapel.
In 1885 organs were given by Mr. Walter Langdon for both chapel and church, the latter being in memory of his wife, Catherine Livingston.
In 1887 the Rev. Richmond Herbert Gesner became rector and after a ministry of three years he was succeeded by the Rev. Amos Turner Ashton, who remained in office from August 2, 1891, till the time of his death, Epiphany, 1911.
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