USA > New York > Chautauqua County > Jamestown > History of the First Baptist Church of Jamestown, New York : 1827-1915 : organized as a branch church December 25th 1827 : organized as an independent body May 24th, 1832 > Part 1
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TORY
ST BAPTI
CHURCH
JAMESTO NY
820-1915
Y
GEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01762 6729
GENEALOGY 974.702 J23HI
195
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/historyoffirstba00butt
THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH JAMESTOWN, N. Y. Re-dedicated April 4th, 1915
1827-1915
HISTORY
OF THE
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH
OF
JAMESTOWN, NEW YORK
Organized as a branch church December 25th 1827 ยท Organized as an independent body May 24th, 1832
JOURNAL PRESS, Incorporated JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
TO THE MEMORY of MRS. SARAH BUSH COATES
at whose request this volume is published, and who provided the means to defray the expense there- of, and to the memory of
MRS. JANE E. (MARSH) CLARK
active in missionary and benevo- lent enterprises, and founder of the W.C.A. Hospital of James- town, New York, this volume is gratefully and affectionately ded- icated by the author
INTRODUCTION
T HIS history had its inception at the fiftieth anniversary of the church in 1882. Then Deacon John C. Breed, Jerome Preston and Mrs. Jane E. (J. H.) Clark were alive and furnished the material for a brief historic sketch, which was prepared by the pastor, Rev. Ransom Harvey, for the celebration held on that occasion. Twenty-five years later the church celebrated its seventy-fifth anniversary by burning the mortgage on its prop- erty, and in four days of meetings and festivities. For that occasion the compiler, who had been pres- ent at the previous celebration, was appointed to bring down the history to that period. In perform- ing the task assigned to him, he became so interest- ed in the work that he continued his labors after the celebration and greatly enlarged the sketch which was read at the anniversary meeting, for the use of coming generations. The idea then was to make it a centennial history and publish it at the close of that period if the church should so deter- mine. In the meantime, however, one of the aged members, a dear old mother in Israel, Sarah B. Coates, became deeply interested in the work and as she had already determined to bequeath her property to the church, she left a request that the history be published out of the proceeds of her es- tate. She died June 13, 1914. And now that the
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funds are provided and available, the trustees have determined that the donors' wishes shall be re- spected.
The credit, therefore, belongs largely to Sarah B. Coates for the funds and for much valuable infor- mation, and to John C. Breed, Jerome Preston, Mrs. Jane E. Clark and Ransom Harvey.
The following historic works and documents have been freely consulted by the compiler : Hazel- tine's History of the Town of Ellicott, Young's His- tory of Chautauqua County, Edson's History of Chautauqua County, the minutes of the Erie, Har- mony, and the Chautauqua Baptist Associations. He is also indebted to the Misses Elsie Leet and Louise Geer for the history of the Sunday School, to Mrs. Martha S. Mead for that of the women's work, to L. M. Butman for the information con- cerning the Young People's Societies, and to Mrs. Clara Walker for that of the Dorcas Society, and to many other friends, for information and for the loan of photographs for use in illustrating the work. G. R. BUTTS.
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CHURCH COVENANT (Now in use)
H AVING, as we believe, been brought by divine grace to embrace the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, and by the influence of His Spirit to give ourselves up to Him, we do now solemnly covenant with one another, as God shall enable us, to walk together in brotherly love; that we will exercise a Christian care and watchfulness over one an- other, and faithfully warn, rebuke, and admonish our breth- ren, as the case shall require; that we will not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, nor omit the great duty of prayer, both for ourselves and for others; that we will par- ticipate in each other's joys, and endeavor, with tenderness and sympathy, to bear each other's burdens and sorrows; that we will seek divine aid to enable us to walk circumspectly and watchfully in the world, denying all ungodliness and every worldly lust; that we will strive together for the sup- port of a faithful evangelical ministry among us; and through life, amidst evil report and good report, seek to live to the glory of Him who hath called us out of darkness into His marvelous light .- Rev. P. B. Houghwout, 1873.
THE FIRST CHURCH COVENANT
W E do now, in the presence of God, angels and men, without any known reserve, devote ourselves to God, choosing Him for our God and portion forever, promising most solemnly to make His word the rule of our faith and practice. We engage to take heed to ourselves, our conversation and company. We promise to be honest in our dealing and diligent in our calling, to shun the ways of sin, and pursue the ways of holiness. We engage to main- tain a faithful watch and care over each other, and a regular discipline, and to provoke each other to love and good works, to be tender of each other's persons, characters, and estates, and to be just towards all. We engage to perform the duties contemplated in our articles and in the Holy Scriptures, such as religiously observing the Christian Sabbath, attending pub- lic worship with our families statedly, and in season main- taining secret and family prayer, and the religious instruc- tion of our families. We engage to attend to the appoint- ments of the church, statedly to maintain communion with them at the Lord's table, and to seek the prosperity of this church and of the Redeemer's Kingdom in general, wher- ever we may be, so long as we live.
All of which we engage to perform through the gracious assistance of God, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. -Rev. Levant Rathbun, March 5, 1848.
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
Pioneer settlements .- Early pastors and churches of the county .- Settlement of Jamestown .- First church in Jamestown .- John Breed and Lyman Crane .- Baptist Church organized .- Rev. Horatio Pratt's ministry .- Pren- dergast Academy and Pine Street school house.
CHAPTER II.
The church an independent body .- Constituent members .- First Baptist edifice .- Judge Foote .- Rev. David Ber- nard's pastorate .- Rev. Rufus Peet's pastorate .- Rev. Asahel Chapin's pastorate .- Deacon William Acocks .- Rev. Alfred Handy's pastorate.
CHAPTER III.
Levant Rathbun's pastorate .- First parsonage .- Wm. Look's pastorate .- Second edifice erected .- Z. M. Palmer .- Al- fred Wells' pastorate .- Arnold Kingsbury's pastorate .- Slavery and the war .- Baptist soldiers.
CHAPTER IV.
Emerson Mills' pastorate .- Prof. Frank Capen .- George O. King's pastorate .- Second parsonage .- P. B. Hough- wout's pastorate .- Prof. S. H. Albro .- George A. Peltz's pastorate .- L. B. Plummer's pastorate.
CHAPTER V.
The Jubilee celebration .- Ransom Harvey's pastorate .- Dea- con John C. Breed .- John M. Grant .- A. E. Waffle's pas- torate .- Nucleus of Calvary Church .- The stone church erected .- VanLuvan VanGaasbeck .- The Munhall meet- ings .- Clarence Adams' pastorate.
CHAPTER VI.
Dr. Hellings' pastorate .- The church debt .- D. C. Breed .- Jane E. and J. H. Clark .- Jerome and Mrs. Preston .- Sarah B. Coates .- Grace Galloway .- Dr. Ford's pastorate. -Ostrom and Elliott meetings .- The 75th anniversary .- A prophecy .- Dr. A. B. Rice .- Rev. A. D. Bush .- Dr. Moor's pastorate .- Beiderwolf meetings-Church burned. -Mrs. Shaver .- Rev. A. Dickson .- Newton Crissey.
CHAPTER VII.
Dr. Purkiss' pastorate .- The re-constructed church .- Bessie Harvey .- Present officers .- Young ministers produced .- Summary of achievement.
CHAPTER VIII.
The Sunday School .- Womens' missionary societies .- Dorcas society .- Young People's societies .- The Baptist Faith.
List of pastors of the church. | Statistics of membership. List of officers of the church. |Roll of church membership. Baptist Associations .- Chautauqua .- Erie .- Harmony. Organization and First pastors of Baptist churches of Chau- tauqua Association.
HISTORY OF THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH
"Out of monuments, names, proverbs, traditions, records, fragments of stone, passages of books, and the like, we do save and recover somewhat from the deluge of time."
CHAPTER I.
Pioneer Settlements .- Early Pastors and Churches of the County .- Settlement of Jamestown .- First Baptist Organi- zation .- Rev. Horatio Pratt's Ministry (1802-1832).
F ROM the first settlements on the Atlantic Seaboard of America, succeeding genera-
tions migrated westward into the interior, at first settling along the natural highways, the Al- legheny and Ohio Rivers, and along the line of the great lakes, and wherever they made their per- - manent homes, there they established their schools and churches.
The greater portion of Chautauqua County was somewhat to one side of these great natural high- ways, and was not settled until the spring of 1802, one hundred and eighty years after the landing at Plymouth Rock, and twenty years after the close of the Revolution. In that year James McMahon, a surveyor from Pennsylvania, took up a large tract of land at what is now Westfield. Just prior to that time the extreme western portion of New York had been purchased by the now famous Hol- land Land Company from Robert Morris, who held
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title from the State of Massachusetts, and who ex- tinguished the claim of the Indians to the territory by virtue of a treaty which he entered into with them.
This vast region had then been surveyed into lots three quarters of a mile square and opened to settlement.
Soon after McMahon settled at Westfield, other settlements were made along Lake Erie, at Han- over and Fredonia then known as Canadaway, in 1803; at Sheridan, Ripley and Mayville on Chau- tauqua Lake in 1804, and at Portland and Dunkirk in 1805. These settlements all grew by frequent additions and soon professing Christians were to be found in nearly all of them. The first religious service seems to have been held at Westfield by Rev. Joseph Badger, a Presbyterian missionary, * sent out by the Connecticut Missionary Society, and the first regular preaching services were also at that place and supplied by Rev. Robert Patter- son, a Presbyterian from Erie, Pa., which resulted in the establishment of a Presbyterian Church there in 1808, the first church organized in the county.
In 1805 Zattu Cushing purchased land at Fre- donia from the original settlers and was the real founder of the Village. He was a Baptist in re- ligious faith, and so far as is known was the first Baptist to permanently locate in the county. He was born at Plymouth, Mass., in 1770, learned ship building in Boston, migrated first to Oneida County and then to Chautauqua. He was a most
10
zealous Christian and a leader in the newly settled country. He was exemplary in character, talented and possessed of an indomitable will, qualities which re-appeared later in his grandsons who won renown in the Civil War. As additions were made to the settlement, he organized a covenant meeting which he conducted until October 20, 1808, when the nine members, with the assistance of Elders Joel Butler, Hezekiah Eastman and Joy Handy, were organized into the Baptist Church of Fre- donia. Ten days before that the same Elders or- ganized a Baptist Church near Dewittville, now known as Olivet Baptist Church. The latter, how- ever, has not had a continuous existence, and the Fredonia Church is the oldest Baptist Church in the county with an uninterrupted history.
Other settlements were rapidly made throughout the county and churches organized therein. The names and dates of such organizations will be found at the close of this work.
Of the early ministers who spread the gospel in this wilderness, mention should be made of Rev. Lorenzo Dow, a Methodist, and an earnest and powerful, though eccentric preacher; of Rev. Jon- athon Wilson, a Baptist from Vermont, who was energetic in organizing Baptist communities, and who supplied churches nearly to the end of his long life of ninety years; of Rev. John Spencer, a Con- gregationalist, and *Rev. Joy Handy, a Baptist, who were sent here in 1808 by their respective mis-
* A full and complete sketch of the life and service of Joy Handy will be found in the archives of the Chautauqua County Historical Society.
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sionary societies in Connecticut, and who made the whole county their parish. Rev. Handy, after three years of exclusive missionary work, became the first pastor of the Fredonia church which he served from 1811 to 1822, at the same time con- tinuing his general missionary labors. Two of his sons, Jairus and Alfred, after coming to maturity became ministers and served very acceptably, many of the Baptist churches of the county. Rev. Spencer continued his general missionary labors to the end of his days and organized more churches, one of which was the Congregational Church of Jamestown, than any other single person.
In the fall of 1810, John Blowers, then in the employ of James Prendergast, constructed his rude cabin under the stately pines that covered the seven or more hills on which now stand the homes and factories of the people of Jamestown. He was the first actual settler, and Prendergast the real foun- der of the present city. The tide of civilization was slowly moving westward, and other settlers were continually coming to the "Rapids" as the place was then known, by reason of the excellent natural water power found in the Outlet of Chautauqua Lake. Many of the new comers, however, moved onward and westward, so that the place had but a moderate growth. Five years after the first cabin was erected, in the beginning of 1816, the "cold year" as it was called, there were thirteen families and a few unmarried men in the settlement, prob- ably less than a hundred people all told. Sixty
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JOHN C. BREED Pioneer Baptist in Jamestown
acres of land had been cleared of trees but not of stumps, and the future city comprised about eight or ten dwellings, one tavern, one store, three saw mills, one grist mill, two blacksmith shops and a tannery. In that year several men with their families came to the place, who attained local dis- tinction, and in June the First Congregational Church was organized with nine members, though no pastor was settled until eight years later.
It is not unlikely that some Baptists came to the settlement during those years, but the recollections of the "oldest inhabitants" as recorded here and there, are that the first Baptist to permanently lo- cate in Jamestown, was John C. Breed who arrived in January, 1822, a young man then seventeen years of age. Not finding a Baptist organization in the place he soon became a member of the Baptist church at Busti, five miles away, but labored freely and earnestly with the Congregationalists in his home town.
In the fall of 1823, he, with the other Christian people, organized the first Sunday School in the place, and he became its first Superintendent. About that time a young blacksmith came to the settlement, Lyman Crane by name, a devout Meth- odist and an exhorter of great spiritual power. He and John Breed became firm friends, and though disagreeing in creed, they labored together in a commendable fraternal spirit, holding prayer meet- ings in private houses about the settlement, each firmly holding to his own faith, but both seeking to
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bring the people into the Kingdom of God. Mr. Crane was instrumental in forming a class which soon developed into the First Methodist Church, and he was ever after known as "Father Crane."
The few Baptists had generally united with the Busti Baptist Church but in 1827, on the advice of Elder Clark, who visited Jamestown and preached a few times, they petitioned the mother church to be set off as a branch for church privileges in James- town. The petition was granted and the members residing at the "Rapids" were set off December 25, 1827, the Busti Church reserving the right to dis- cipline the new born child whenever discipline should become needful. In after years when Jamestown had become a large and prosperous village and Busti had dwindled to a mere hamlet, this incident caused the people of the latter place to mirthfully speak of Jamestown as a "suburb" of Busti. The church so set off was but a branch of another, nevertheless it was the beginning of the present body, whose history dates from that Christ- mas day.
Another Baptist, Elder Adrian Foote, came soon after Elder Clark and recommended one Horatio Pratt, his brother-in-law, and a recent graduate from Hamilton Theological Seminary, as a man suitable in every way to serve the branch church. An invitation was extended to Elder Pratt and he came on to the field and proved in every way fully up to the recommendation. "His preaching gave entire satisfaction to the Baptists and the com-
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munity in general. He was a well proportioned man, some six feet in height, and of commanding presence. He was a fluent speaker, and there was a distinctness in his utterances that sent the truth home to every heart."
Up to this time all religious meetings in the settlement had been held in the old Prendergast Academy, a school building twenty-four by thirty feet, located at the southwest corner of Main and Fifth Streets, a little to the west and south of the present Jamestown Club Building. With Elder Pratt's coming the Baptists left the Academy and secured permission to worship in the Pine Street School House, then standing on the northeast cor- ner of Fourth and Pine Streets. The success of Mr. Pratt's ministry was so marked, that the little church was encouraged to believe that a sufficient sum could be raised to erect a bulding of its own and to become free and independent. Steps were accordingly taken to accomplish those results, and the church was actually incorporated in February, 1828. Unfortunately, however, Mr. Pratt was prostrated with pulmonary consumption after about a year's labor, and his earthly career was terminated on April 2, 1829. His remains were first buried in the old cemetery where the Prendergast Free Library now stands, and about forty-four years later were removed and re-interred on Dea- con Breed's lot in Lake View Cemetery. His mouldering clay reposes in an obscure and almost forgotten grave marked by a tombstone which time
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is reducing to dust, but his work stands and his real monument is the First Baptist Church which he labored so faithfully and effectively, though briefly, to establish.
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CHAPTER II.
The Church an Independent Body .- Constituent Members .- First Baptist Edifice-Rev. David Bernard's Pastorate -Rev. Rufus Peet's Pastorate .- Rev. Asahel Chapin's Pas- torate .- Deacon William Acocks .- Rev. Alfred Handy's Pastorate (1832-1848).
T HE death of Mr. Pratt stopped the forward movement of the little band of Christians until four years later, when they formed themselves into a conference for an independent church organization. Rev. David Bernard assist- ed them in preparing their articles of faith and the preliminary work of organization. A council com- posed of delegates from the churches at Busti, Ashville, Gerry, Panama, Ellery and Laona was called for May 24, 1832, which convened at the Pine Street School House on that day and or- ganized by electing Ebeneezer Harrington, Moder- ator and Elder Charles LaHatt, Clerk. The coun- cil then examined the twenty petitioners, described as thirteen males and seven females, and finding them proficient, declared them to be a church of Christ.
Five years before that date, in 1827, the Village had been incorporated with about five hundred in- habitants, and in area covered the four lots of the Holland Land Company's Survey, numbered twen- ty-five, twenty-six, thirty-three and thirty-four, and was therefore about one and one-half miles square. In the census of 1830, two years before the church became independent, the population was eight hun- dred eighty-four, and it is safe to say that in the spring of 1832, the village contained about one
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thousand souls. The place then had two churches (Congregational and Methodist), eleven stores, a woolen factory, a sash factory, a grist mill, one gang saw mill and three ordinary saw mills, two printing offices, several mechanical establishments and a steam boat that plied on Chautauqua Lake.
It is of course interesting to know the names of the twenty constituent members of the church, all of whom it is believed are here accurately given :
Zacheus Palmer
John C. Breed
Salina Palmer
William Washburn
Mary Palmer
Theron Gilbert
Wm. R. (Squire) Burlingham
William Acocks
Lydia Burlingham
Josiah Willis
John Abbott
Hannah Willis
Ephriam Rolf
Henry Bliss
Annie Rolf
James Smith
Lucinda Heath
Sarah Seymour
Lory Waller
Jefferson Rhodes
The last name is the only doubtful one. The old church records recite that Jefferson Rhodes and his wife were received into the church by letter soon after its organization, but the name of his wife was never entered on the church roll. The old records are manifestly inaccurate in some minor details and bear evidences of having been written up some time after the events therein recorded took place. Dea- con John Breed always gave the name of Jefferson Rhodes as one of the constituent members and it is so recorded in Young's History of Chautauqua County. With his name the list contains exactly thirteen men and seven women, while any other probable substitute for his name would be a woman
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and so disagree with the statement in the records of the Council.
Aaron Root and his wife Elizabeth had been members of the branch church, but for some reason did not sign the petition for the independent or- ganization. They were voted members however without letters at the second meeting of the new church. These two added to the twenty, consti- tute the twenty-two members mentioned in the History of the Town of Ellicott as constituting the branch church.
The first church clerk and treasurer was John C. Breed, and he was also one of the two first deacons, William Acocks being the other. The first mem- bers received into the new church by baptism were Judson Southland and William Breed, an older brother of John.
The newly organized church immediately pro- ceeded to erect a house of worship, which was ac- complished during the first year, and was on the land occupied by the present edifice, which was pre- sented to the church by Judge Elial T. Foote. In order to take the gift the original incorporation of the church was *revived April 23, 1833, by electing William Breed, William Acocks and Judson South- land as its first trustees. The church site was still decorated with huge pine stumps and the building was made to match. As described by a local his- torian it was a barn in appearance except as to the
*Certificate of election of trustees by which corporation was revived is recorded in Chautauqua County Clerk's Office in Liber 3 of miscellaneous records, May 2, 1835, at page 5.
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windows, having a straight roof with no steeple. The pews were the old fashioned box pews and the two entrances were on the Fourth Street end of the church, one on each side of the pulpit, so that the late comers were obliged to enter the church in the face of the Congregation. The building cost one thousand dollars, and was a heavy burden of debt for the church for many years. It was used as a church for about twenty-four years.
Judge Foote came to Jamestown in about 1815 and was the first physician to locate in the place. Soon after, he became a member of the Congrega- tional Church, but in 1834 went with the Presby- terians when that church was organized out of the former. He purchased a large tract of land from the Holland Land Company at an early day, in what is now the easterly part of the City of James- town, and from this territory he set off a church site for the Baptists, consisting of four village lots, two fronting on what was then Market Street (East Fourth), and two fronting on what was then High Street (East Fifth), all bounded on the East by what was then Chappel Street (now Church). He also gave the Methodists a site at the corner of East Second and Chandler Streets. Being a man of broad views and of a judicial temperament, he was elected Judge of the Court of Common Pleas where he served for twenty years. Later in life he moved to New Haven, Conn., where he died in 1877. On his monument in Lake View Cemetery, is the appropriate inscription, "A good Citizen,
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DAVID BERNARD First Pastor
A beloved Physician, An upright Judge, A sincere Christian."
Soon after the church was organized, Rev. David Bernard was called to its pastorate and he sus- tained that relation for one year. He was born in Utica, N. Y., December 26, 1798, read law in Nash- ville, Tenn., was baptized in Utica and joined the Broad Street Church there in 1821, entered Co- lumbia College, Washington, D. C., in 1822, was licensed to preach by his church in 1822 and or- dained June I, of the same year, at Stillwater, N. Y. He became pastor of that church for one year, serv- ed the Covington Church two years, Warsaw two and one-half years, Fredonia one year, Laona one year, Jamestown one year and Busti about one year. He then became pastor of the Sixteenth Baptist Church in New York City, from which he went to. Bedford, N. Y., then to Norristown, Pa., to Penfield, N. Y., to Elyria, O., to Akron and again to Busti, N. Y., where he labored most effectually for four years and baptized a large number of con- verts, of whom at least three were afterwards min- isters, and many of whom were subsequently mem- bers of the Jamestown church.
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