USA > New York > Orange County > Montgomery > The Goodwill memorial, or, The first one hundred and fifty years of the Goodwill Presbyterian Church : Montgomery, Orange Co., N.Y. > Part 1
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Gc 974.702 M76d 1557891
M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01177 8534
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HELMA
THE GOODWILL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. (See Pages 27 and 59).
THE GOODWILL MEMORIAL ;
OR,
THE FIRST ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS
OF THE
GOODWILL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH,
MONTGOMERY, ORANGE CO., N. Y.
BY
JAMES MILLIGAN DICKSON.
NEWBURGH, N. Y. : E. M. RUTTENBER, PUBLISHER.
1880.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1880, by E. M. RUTTENBER, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.
1557891
TO
THE MEMBERS AND FRIENDS
OF THE
GOODWILL CHURCH AND CONGREGATION,
WHO HAVE
PROVED SUCH PLEASANT AND EFFECTIVE CO-LABORERS
IN THE
flaster's Serbice,
THESE PAGES ARE MOST AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED,
WITH THE PRAYER, THAT WHEN LIFE'S WORK IS DONE, WE MAY ALL MEET IN HEAVEN.
J.O. T 7906
PREFACE.
THE germ-thought in commencing this simple monograph in its present form was that of justice to the memory of the noble men who have served in the Eldership of this Church and have gone to their reward-men whom the present and after generations cannot afford to have forgotten. Through- out the work the strictest regard has been had to historical accuracy. The records in County Clerks' and Surrogates' offices both at Kingston and Goshen, in addition to whatever private papers could be reached, have been carefully searched. Much new light has been thrown upon the field, necessitating a thorough revision of the Historical Discourse.
In the Discourse due credit is given to Rev. D. M. Maclise, D.D., for quotations from his sermon published in 1865.
Grateful acknowledgment is hereby made of intelligence of the first importance furnished by Rev. J. R. Graham, D.D., of Winchester, Va., a son of a former honored Elder of this Church and whom this Church delights to honor.
For facts and suggestions in reference to the early settle- ment of the community, thanks to Mr. E. M. Ruttenber and to his " History of Orange County and Newburgh."
The account of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary is from a full stenographic report made on that occasion.
The genealogical notes here and there interspersed are, in the main, the result of a careful sifting and arranging of in-
4
PREFACE.
telligence gathered from a variety of sources-old wills, deeds defective family records, etc. To encourage a proper atten tion to family history, blank pages for family records are appended.
To the history of the past the Present Organization and Record has been added, as, from first to last, this MEMORIAL is for a living Church called to act in a living age, and with possibilities in view of the future that cannot be overesti- mated.
It is matter of regret that so many families, equally worthy with those noticed, have been passed by with the simple men- tion of the name; but to have gone beyond the limits pre- scribed would have been to enter a field that would have fur- nished material for volumes.
GOODWILL PARSONAGE, August 2, 1880.
CONTENTS.
I.
HISTORICAL DISCOURSE, delivered July 2d, 1876, carefully revised PAGE 7
II.
A LIST OF ELDERS in the Church from its Organization, in so far as can be ascertained, with Sketches of the Lives of a few of them .. 65
III.
THE TRUSTEES
98
IV.
NECROLOGY, 1870-1880. 104
V.
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY
108
Prayer by Rev. W. D. Snodgrass, D.D.
109
Hymn of Thanks and Praise, written by Mabel G. Osgood
113
Address by Rev. J. R. Graham, D.D.
113
Address by Rev. D. M. Maclise, D.D. 122
Address by Rev. A. S. Freeman, D.D. 130
Address by Rev. D. N. Freeland 133
Address by Rev. Charles Beattie
137
Memorial Hymn, written by William Graham
145
PRESENT ORGANIZATION AND RECORD. VI
147
I.
HISTORICAL DISCOURSE.
DELIVERED JULY 2D, 1876.
"REMEMBER the days of old, consider the years of many generations ; ask thy father, and he will show thee ; thy elders, and they will tell thee."-DEUT. 32 : 7.
This injunction of Moses has for us to-day a peculiar significance, by virtue of the action of our highest Church judicatory. On the 19th day of May, A.D. 1873, THE GEN- ERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in session in the city of Balti- more, Md., adopted the following among other recommenda- tions, in anticipation of this Centennial Year of our Nation's Independence :
"That the first Sabbath in July, 1876, be designated as a day of Praise and Thanksgiving to God for the manifold blessings with which He has crowned us as a people:
"That on that day the Pastor of each Church under the jurisdiction of this General Assembly, deliver a discourse on the history of his Church:
" And further, that, on the day above appointed, a collection be taken* in each of our churches, for the purpose of erecting a suitable fire-proof building for the Presbyterian Historical Society, and for an endowment fund for said Society."
This has since been reiterated, and if there are any who question the importance of faithfully attending to it while we may yet ask our fathers and our elders, that we and they who shall come after may intelligibly "remember the days of old " and " consider the years of many generations," they have but
* This collection was taken on the day of the delivery of this discourse, and was forwarded to the Society.
8
GOODWILL CHURCH.
to go back to the planting here of the vine that was brought from the cradle of the Reformation on the continent of Europe and in the British Islands, and see how the footprints and landmarks of the fathers have already disappeared. A cen- tury more of the neglect in the matter of ecclesiastical records that characterized the first century of this period, and it could scarcely be known who were the pioneers of the Gospel on this side of the Atlantic or what were the specific fields in which they labored. But for years a better mind has pre- vailed, and now all must commend the wisdom of present endeavors to secure the history of each particular church, and in connection with this, to erect a fire-proof historical build- ing, that our archives may henceforth be as safely preserved as is possible amid the crumbling things of time.
My task as historian of this time-honored organization is lessened in consequence of the researches of my immediate predecessor, the Rev. Dr. Maclise. I have before spoken of the debt of gratitude you owe him for his efforts in this direction. He gathered and put in form for you a large amount of valuable information. He even came in possession of facts that could not well be reached to-day. It would be strange indeed if the lapse of eleven years since the publica- tion of his discourse, with the inquiry which it naturally awakened, had elicited nothing interesting and valuable. But where no new light has been obtained, his account of events, and especially his biographies, will be allowed to stand unaltered.
We start with the year 1729. It was an eventful one in the history of American Presbyterianism. In 1705 or 1706 the 1 first Presbytery-the Presbytery of Philadelphia-was formed. The exact date of its organization cannot be known, as the first leaf of its records is lost. About ten years later, or in 1716, this Presbytery was divided into three-namely : Phila- delphia, New Castle and Snow Hill-and the Synod of Phila- delphia was organized; and two brethren who were settled on Long Island were recommended "to use their best endeavors with the neighboring brethren that are settled there,
9
GOODWILL CHURCH.
which, as yet, join not with us, to join with them in erecting a fourth Presbytery." This effort to form the Presbytery of Long Island was successful, but the Snow Hill Presbytery was merged in that of New Castle; and in 1729 there existed the three Presbyteries of Philadelphia, New Castle and Long Island, united in the Synod of Philadelphia, whose ministe- rial memberships all told amounted to twenty-seven. There was at the time about the same number of churches.
This American Presbyterian Church, in its beginnings, as in its after-development, was composed of varied elements. Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales, together with New England, where Presbyterianism and Congregationalism were combined, had contributed both to its ministry and member- ship. Differences of opinion on many points necessarily existed ; but for years a beautiful harmony in diversity seems to have prevailed. " Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity !"
But this harmony was not to continue. Either to keep out heresy or to testify more boldly for the truth, or for both of these combined, the Scotch and Irish brethren, influenced no doubt by events that were transpiring in the Irish Synod, agitated the importance of subscribing to the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms. For a time there seemed to be danger of division such as has again and again so marred the comeliness of the Presbyterian family. But in 1729, with almost entire unanimity, the Synod adopted the following :
" Although the Synod do not claim or pretend to any authority of imposing our faith upon other men's consciences, but do profess our just dissatisfaction with and abhorence of such impositions, and do utterly disclaim all legislative power and authority in the Church, being willing to receive one another as Christ has received us to the glory of God, and admit to fellowship in sacred ordinances all such as we have ground to believe Christ will at last admit to the Kingdom of Heaven; yet we are undoubtedly obliged to take care that the faith once delivered to the saints be kept pure and uncorrupt among us and so handed down to our posterity. And do, therefore, agree that all the ministers of this Synod, or that shall hereafter be admitted into this Synod, shall declare their agreement in and approbation of the Confession of Faith, with the Larger and Shorter Catechisms of the Assembly of Divines at Westminster, as being in all the essential and necessary articles good forms of sound words and systems of
IO
GOODWILL CHURCH.
Christian doctrine, and do also adopt the said Confession and Catechisms as the Confession of our faith. And we do also agree that all the Presbyteries within our bounds shall always take care not to admit any candidate of the ministry into the exercise of the sacred functions, but what declares his agreement in opinion with all the essential and necessary articles of said Confession, either by sub- scribing the said Confession of Faith and Catechisms, or by a verbal declaration of their assent thereto, as such minister or candidate shall think best. And in case any minister of this Synod, or any candidate for the ministry, shall have any scruple with respect to any article or articles of said Confession or Catechisms, he shall, at the time of his making said declaration, declare his sentiments to the Presbytery or Synod, who shall, notwithstanding, admit him to the exercise of the ministry within our bounds, and to ministerial communion, if the Synod or Presbytery shall judge his scruple or mistake to be only about articles not essen- tial and necessary in doctrine, worship or government. But if the Synod or Presbytery shall judge such ministers or candidates erroneous in essential and necessary articles of faith, the Synod or Presbytery shall declare them uncapable of communion with them. And the Synod do solemnly agree that none of us will traduce or use any opprobrious terms of those that differ from us in these extra-essential and not necessary points of doctrine, but treat them with the same friendship, kindness and brotherly love as if they had not differed from us in such sentiments."
I have dwelt thus on the history of the denomination that it may appear how far back in the development of Presby- terianism in the land this church dates, and also that light may be thrown on the difficulties which arose a few years later in reference to the settlement of the Rev. Isaac Chalker.
In the minutes of the Synod for 1729, rendered famous by this Adopting Act, appears the first mention of this church in the records of the higher courts :
" PHILADELPHIA, Saturday, Sept. 20, 1729.
"Application from the people of Wallakill being presented to the Synod by their commissioner, John McNeal, representing their request of supplies of preaching among them, they are recommended to the care of the Presbytery of Philadelphia."
Should the spelling of " Wallkill" suggest doubts as to the identity of the church, they will all be relieved as we proceed by the name of the commissioner, John McNeal, who after- wards became somewhat unenviably conspicuous.
"The people of Wallakill " claim our attention. Who were they ? The answer takes us back a little and introduces us to the early settlers of this region. The 6th of September, 1664,
.
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THE ORIGINAL ORANGE COUNTY.
With part of Ulster County, afterwards set off to Orange.
(From Sauthier's Map, 1779.
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New burgh
II
HISTORICAL DISCOURSE.
when the English succeeded the Dutch in the government of New Netherland, marks a new era in immigration to our shores, and in the government of what was henceforth "the Province of New York." "The lands," wrote Sir Richard Nicolls, " which I intend shall be first planted, are those upon the west side of Hudson's river, at or adjoining to the Sopes" -pointing to what became in time the counties of Orange and Ulster. In accordance with this, as the century advanced, we find settlements at the " Christian patented lands of Haver straw," at Esopus and New Paltz, at Couwanham's Hill (after- wards called Plum Point) and on lands adjoining the " Chris- tian patented lands of Haverstraw," which last settlement obtained (March 20th, 1686,) a township patent "under the name of the TOWN OF ORANGE." Settlements were also begun or extended inland.
In 1683, the counties of Orange and Ulster were organized, with somewhat indefinite limits, but with " Murderer's Creeke" and a line running thence westward as the dividing line. In 1709, when the Palatines settled at Quassaick (afterwards Newburgh), the territory immediately north of Murderer's creek, constituting the southern part of Ulster county, had no civil organization. Shortly after, or about 1714, the precinct of the Highlands and that of Shawangunk were erected, by order of the court. The former embraced, substantially, the territory now included in the towns of Newburgh and New Windsor; the latter, the boundaries of which were somewhat indefinite, extended back over this whole region, from which, by the act of Dec. 17th, 1743, the precinct of Wallkill was erected. A few years later we find this whole region claimed by patentees, who were generally connected in some manner with the government, very few of whom ever became actual residents here. Taking our stand at the point where the Goodwill Church was afterwards built, we are within the limits of the patent to James Smith, Secretary of the Province of New Jersey, dated Dec. 15th, 1722. This tract was a some- what irregular strip extending from a point about half a mile east of the village of Montgomery to the Colden property
12
GOODWILL CHURCH.
(afterwards Coldenham). The northern boundary of our parsonage farm is on a line with the northern limit of Smith's patent. To the south of this, extending through what is now termed Neelytown, Thomas Noxon owned by letters patent dated May 28th, 1720, two thousand acres. Immediately east of this-extending from the Smith tract in a southerly direc- tion-was Patrick McKnight's two thousand acres, patent dated April 9th, 1719; and to the east of this again were the patents of Patrick Hume, dated Nov. 29th, 1721, Cornelius Low & Co., dated March 17th, 1720, and Phineas McIntosh, dated April 9th, 1719. North of James Smith's patent was that of Archibald Kennedy, dated April 9th, 1719; and north of that again the patent of James Alexander, dated April 9th, 1719-while to the west of Noxon's patent was a five thousand acre tract extending beyond the Wallkill, granted by letters patent dated July 17th, 1720, to Francis Harrison, Oliver Schuyler and Allan Jarratt.
Turning from thence to the actual settlers, we would note, if we were dwelling on the history of the town instead of that of the Goodwill Church, the settlement at Wilemantown still north of the territory indicated-north of the village of Walden. Henry Wileman's patent of three thousand acres was dated in 1709, and a small settlement was effected thereon not long afterwards. We would also enlarge on the settlement on the patent to Francis Harrison & Co., generally designated as the Harrison patent. The year after this patent was granted-or May 25th, 1721-the name of Oliver Schuyler was dropped from the number of patentees, and with Francis Harrison and Allan Jarratt were associated six others : Adolphus Phillips, George Clark, Johannes Lansing, Henry Wileman, Jacobus Bruyn, and William Sharpas. The whole tract was surveyed, an extensive village was laid out, and arrangements were made to give deeds to several who were actual settlers on the land. The date of the indenture reciting this is Dec. 22, 1722. The parties named therein as actual settlers were Hans Newkirk, Hendrick Newkirk, Mattias Slimmer, Peter Kysler, ---- Krans, - Brandos. These were Palatines and as their com-
13.
HISTORICAL DISCOURSE.
munity increased they erected a log church within the limits of their village, though neither the village nor the church attained to any size. The site of the church is indicated by the remains of the grave-yard attached thereto on the east side of the Goshen road leading from Montgomery village, oppo- site the road which runs towards the Wallkill between the lands of J. Hasbrouck Decker and Peter E. Miller. It is marked on the old maps as the " Harrison Meeting."
But leaving Wilemantown and this Palatine settlement- Germantown, as their village was called-to the general his- torian, we return to "the people of Wallkill." Their incom- ing we may date from about 1724-5, but as we attempt to trace it we are met with the difficulty that the early deeds of their lands were not recorded at the time they were executed and but few of them were recorded afterwards. These few, how- ever, are invaluable as guides. From them we learn that on the 4th of May, 1721, Thomas Neely, of Westchester county, purchased from Patrick McKnight two hundred acres of land, and about the same time or a little later, the exact date not ascertained, Samuel Neely purchased from Thomas Noxon four hundred acres. Among the witnesses whose names appear on McKnight's deed to Thomas Neely, we find that of John McNeal. The Neelys were still in Westchester county. When they came here we cannot definitely ascertain; but from the above, in connection with what follows, we can hardly fail to recognize in them and John McNeal, with the patentees. the men who were specially active in bringing in the colony. On the 5th of July, 1726, John Davis bought fifty acres from Phineas McIntosh, on which he had already erected his dwell- ing, and in connection with this purchase we meet with the names of James Gambell, John Neely and Thomas Neely, apparently as actual settlers. The year following, John Humphrey purchased land in the western part of what is now known as Little Britain. In this year also, according to family tradition, Archibald, James and Robert Hunter came to the precinct. The former purchased two hundred acres of land from James Alexander-including the farm now occupied by
14
GOODWILL CHURCH.
Henry Suydam. In 1728, Cadwallader Colden* occupied land in the region still known as Coldenham. In 1729, Peter Mul- lender and Robert Burnet bought land near that of John Humphrey, though from an old tax list of the precinct both Humphrey and Mullender appear to have been within its limits as early as 1724-5. A manifestly defective list of freeholders in the precincts of the Highlands and of Shawangunk, made in 1728, contain the names of Alexander Neely and John Mackneel (McNeal), Jr., with others not mentioned above, who, no doubt, belonged to "the people of Wallkill." These are but hints at the incoming population.t In 1729, the settlement was sufficiently extensive to justify John McNeal in going to Philadelphia-a journey which at that time would be almost as much of an undertaking as a trip across the continent to-day -to secure " supplies of preaching among them." The Rev. William Blain, who was settled over this church in 1830, and who would be conversant with men and women who conversed with some of the first settlers, wrote of the church, that "at its first organization it consisted of about forty families that had emigrated from different parts of Ireland, but principally from the county of Londonderry." They took to themselves the name of " the people of Wallkill." It has been confidently stated and has been printed as authentic history that they were so named from the Wallkill precinct in which they resided.
* The Colden family were associated with the mission of the Church of Eng- land, which grew into the St. Andrew's Church, now of Walden, the commence- ment of which is said to have been about 1732 or '3.
+ In the years immediately following other names appear. In 1731, James Munell purchased land from Thomas Noxon, in the neighborhood of where Charles Miller, the senior Elder of this church, resides; and as witnesses to the deed we find the names of William and Robert Neeley. In the western portion of Little Britain we find among the early settlers Andrew McDowell, Alexander Denniston, John Young and CHARLES CLINTON. The latter, whose descendants attained a national reputation, purchased from Andrew Johnston and John Parker of Perth Amboy, two hundred and fifteen acres. The date of the deed is Aug. 2d, 1730, though it was not acknowledged in the county till one year after- wards-the year in which Mr. Clinton came with his family. But the history of the Clintons belongs with that of the church at Bethlehem. There Charles Clinton was an Elder as early as 1739, as he had been previously in the parish in Ireland from which he migrated. The very number of the pew occupied by the family in the church at Bethelem (No. 6) has been handed down. The German element, which laid the foundations of the German Reformed Church on the west of the Wallkill, was also coming in from about the year 1730.
Pages is and 16 missing when received .
17
HISTORICAL DISCOURSE.
But the Wallkill precinct was not erected till December 17th, 1743. The inference is legitimate that instead of taking their name from the precinct they gave their name to it, while they so named themselves originally from the fact that their settle- ment extended to and beyond the Wallkill river,* as a few years later the church had no inconsiderable membership in the territory west of the Wallkill. And just here it may be noticed that for nearly sixty years, or until the name Wallkill ceased to be the territorial designation of the locality, the church was generally known, as to some extent it is still, and was entered on the records, as the Wallkill Church, though Goodwill + was its corporate name from an early date, if not from the first, as appears from the deed of the ground on which the church stands, dated Nov. 9th, 1741. The Synod of Philadelphia referred this people to the Presbytery of Philadelphia, to the records of which we would fain look for the exact date of the organization of the church; but the records of the Presbytery from 1717 to 1733 are lost, so that we are deprived of that important source of information. We do not, certainly, know the name of a single supply to this people during those early years. History early connects the name of the Rev. Samuel Gelston with this church, but with a good deal of indefiniteness. One account makes him a sup- ply here in 1730. But his manifest connection with the New London church-a branch from Elk River, to which we will have occasion to refer again-would strongly militate against it. His labors here, whatever their extent, would appear to have been not earlier than 1732 or 1733, and not later than I734.
In 1733 the Presbytery of East Jersey was formed out of the Presbytery of Philadelphia, and the churches of Orange
* The stream was named Wallkill by the Huguenots who settled at New Paltz, but some diversity of opinion has existed as to the derivation of the name. (See Eager's " Orange County," p.276, and Ruttenber's " Orange County and New- burgh," p. 66.)
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