USA > New York > Schenectady County > Schenectady > A history of the Schenectady patent in the Dutch and English times : being contributions toward a history of the lower Mohawk Valley > Part 38
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" As connected with this part of the ecclesiastical history of Schenectady, I take the liberty of quoting from a note on the subject, received from my esteemed friend, the Rev. Dr. Darling: 'One of the oldest members of my church (Presbyterian), when I came here, informed me that the south door was walled up after the Presbyterian exodus, 'and the Lord put a curse on the mortar, so that it would not stick;' though, as she had no prophetic credentials, you may prefer to account for it in some other way.'
"It was to matters of this kind, I suppose, that Dr. Darling's predecessor, the venerable Dr. Backus, referred in his historical sermon, preached in 1869, when he said: 'Ritualism and evangelicism long contended here for the mastery.' One of the champions in that contest was this same Mr. Kelly- Sandy Kelly, generally called-who, when a pitch-pipe was introduced into the Presbyterian worship, rushed down the aisle and out of the door, crying, ' Awa' with your box o' whistles !' What would he have said and done, had his evangelic ears been shocked by the noble organ which now vies with that of St. George's in improving the ritual of God's house ?
" While the church was being built, the Rev. Thomas Brown, who suc- ceeded Mr. Ogilvie at St. Peter's, Albany, and after him the Rev. Harry Monroe, seem to have ministered now and then to the church people here, baptizing their children and burying their dead, until the arrival of Mr. William Andrews. This gentleman had been for some time catechist among the Mohawk Indians. He was a native of Great Britain. He returned home in 1770, when he was ordained by the bishop of London, and ap- pointed missionary at Schenectady. He may be considered the first resident minister, or rector, of St. George's. Mr. Andrews opened a grammar school here in 1771; but the labor attendant on this and his parish broke down his health, and he relinquished the mission in 1773, and went to Virginia .*
* Ag mpse of the state of the parish in Mr. Andrews' time is preserved .in a letter then wri en by the wardens to the secretary of the Venerable Society. They complain of the diff ulty of pledging a fixed salary for their rector, owing, as they say, "to the absence of many of the congregation (which must make the contributions casual and uncertain), who are Indian traders over the Great Lakes, and do not always return within the year.
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"Mr. Andrews was soon succeeded by the Rev. John Doty, a native of Westchester, and an alumnus of King's (now Columbia) College. It was now the eve of the Revolution. Not long had the new incumbent been proclaiming within these walls the gospel of peace, before the sounds of war were echoed from Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill. The rupture between the colonies and the mother country was to try the souls of all, but of none more than the clergy of the English church, who were sustained by the bounty of its society at home, and whose ordination vows would not allow them to disuse the liturgy, with the prayer for the king and royal family. Like many of his brethren, Mr. Doty suffered between a sense of duty and the pressure of the times. He was arrested, and kept in ward for a while. On being released, he left for Canada; and divine service was suspended in the church during the remainder of the war.
" When the independence of the States was established, and peace de- clared in 1782, the few sheep which Mr. Doty had been forced to abandon were almost entirely scattered. The church edifice had become dilapidated, the windows were broken out, and desolation reigned within and around. I have been told by those who remember those times, that it became a resort even to the swine, which were then allowed to run in the streets of this Dutch city. As soon, however, as the little remnant of church people recovered their courage and strength, they took measures to restore their house of prayer, and liberal offerings were made for the purpose, especially by Mr. Brown and Mr. Charles Martin, for a long time the faithful treasurer of the society. Soon after, in 1790, the parish was admitted into union with the Convention of the Protestant Episcopal church, which had become duly organized. But it was some time before it could enjoy the services of a settled clergyman, depending upon those of Albany and other neighboring towns.
" In 1798, the Rev. Robert G. Wetmore became rector, in connection with Christ church, Duanesborough; and from that day its affairs moved on in uninterrupted order and with increasing success. At the first election of the corporation, Charles Martin and John Kane were chosen wardens. In a register book, then begun, there is a rude pen-and-ink sketch, by Mr. Wet- more's own hand, of the church as it then was-a little, oblong, stone structure, fifty-six feet long (about half its present length) by thirty-six feet wide, with three windows on each side (the old south door being walled
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up), and in front a small wooden steeple, crowned by a low bell tower with a cross upon it. It contained thirty-six pews (about one-third of its present number), and no gallery, except across the west end, which was reached by a stairway within the church in the north-west corner. The pulpit, with a long flight of stairs, was against the east wall in the centre, with a reading desk in front, and a clerk's pew in front of that, and the altar, with rails, on the north side-an arrangement similar to that still existing in the old church at Duanesborough.
" Mr. Wetmore resigned in 1801, and some years elapsed before his place was regularly supplied. Meanwhile the services of neighboring clergy were occasionally obtained, and several improvements made in the church edifice. At a meeting of the vestry in 1804, 'Charles Martin and John W. Brown represented to the board the necessity of taking down the steeple, on account of its being in a decayed situation; and proposed to obtain by subscription a sum adequate to the erecting a new steeple.' Messrs. David Tomlinson and Wm. Corlett were appointed the committee, and the result was the wooden tower (which was taken down twelve years ago) and the beautiful belfry and spire which crowned it, and which were deemed worthy of preservation.
" The foundation of that tower was laid by a young man who had then just arrived in Schenectady, and who, though born and reared a New Eng- land Congregationalist, soon attached himself to this church, and afterwards became most intimately identified with all its changes and improvements- David Hearsey.
" The next rector was the Rev. Cyrus Stebbins, who, having been a Methodist minister at Albany, was ordained with special reference to this parish, by Bishop Moore. He was here from 1806 to 1819, but I do not find that any alterations were made in the church edifice during his incum- bency.
" For a year or two after Dr. Stebbins' resignation, the services were kept up, with much acceptance to the congregation, by Mr. Alonzo Potter, as lay reader, then tutor of Union College, and afterwards the Bishop of Pennsylvania. A tablet to his memory has been placed by the trustees of the college on the walls of St. George's.
"In 1821, the Rev. Alexis P. Proal was called to the rectorship, and he continued in it till 1836. During those fifteen years, several substantial
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additions were made to the church property. A house with lot, belonging to Ahasuerus Wendell, was brought for a rectory by the church's side on the north ; and more sittings being found necessary in the church, side gal- leries were erected, running from the west to the east wall.
"Dr. Proal was succeeded by the Rev. Aldert Smedes, during whose rectorship of three years a radical change was made in the church edifice. Increased accommodations being required, the vestry debated whether to pull down the old building and erect a new one, or to enlarge. The latter course was adopted, for which we may well be thankful ; for, apart from the loss of the charm of age and historical associations, a new structure would very likely have proved an abortion. It was a period in the history of ecclesiastical architecture in this country, when ignorance and false ideas prevailed on the subject. In place of that which, though simple and rude, was not unchurchly, there might have been entailed upon the parish some monstrosity, perhaps a wooden Gothic building, such as those times often gave birth to. From that misfortune we were saved by the wisdom and right taste of those who had the direction of matters ; and so, in the spring and summer of 1838, two transepts, or wings, were added to the old nave. But, alas ! the former chancel arrangement was discarded, and in lieu of it arose a huge three-decker - a pulpit large enough for several, and desk of corresponding size, with a communion table in front. Under the pulpit was a hole, where the clergyman could go and change his surplice for a black gown between the service and the sermon. Thirty pews were gained on the lower floor, besides many others by continuing the galleries around the new transepts ; and the graceful arch over your heads was shut out of sight by a floor, making the whole upper ceiling flat. Another important event in the history of the parish during Dr. Smede's rectorship, was the purchase of the house next south of the church, called the Peek house, where the Sunday school met and the sexton lived. The garden was added to the burial ground."
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AN HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
BY REV. TIMOTHY G. DARLING, THE PASTOR.
The early history of the Presbyterian Church in Schenectady is obscure. As late as 1756 we learn from Smith's History of the Province of New York that there was no Church in the town except the Dutch. Before this date, however, settlers from England and Scotland and from New England were drawn to this " frontier " town by the facilities afforded for trading with the Interior. Missionaries, chiefly for the Indians, had been sent into these parts by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel early in the 18th century.
One of these, the Rev. Mr. Barclay, under date of 26 Sept., 1710, reports preaching once a month at Schenectady, "where there is a garrison of 40 soldiers, besides about 16 English and 100 Dutch families * * * the only ' dissenters' there are Dutch.'" There was a chapel in the fort at Schenec- tady which was built about 1735.
In July, 1759, the Rev. Dr. Johnson writes to Archbishop Secker, " They are building a church at Schenecty, a fine county town on the west side of the river above Albany, and will soon want a minister there," "Chenectedi or Corlaer," is said about this date to be a village of some 300 houses.
Concerning this building, now St. George's Episcopal Church, a tradition existed that Presbyterians subscribed to its erection with the understanding that it should be used in common by both denominations.
Unfortunately all the ecclesiastical records which might have thrown light on the earliest Presbyterian history here, have been destroyed by fire.
It is not unlikely that such Presbyterian missionaries as had penetrated to Albany had also visited this region, but there was no minister settled over the Presbyterian church here before 1770. For some time prior to this, however, there had been a congregation worshipping statedly in a hired
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" meeting-house," as under date of 11 Jan., '69, there is an entry in " An account of what Andrew McFarlan has laid out," as follows: "To Balance due on the first 2 years of the old house £6 14s. 6d."
On the 12th Oct., '69, a lot was purchased from Peter De Bois for £100, and work seems to have begun at once in earnest, as almost immediately follows: "To 2 Gallons Westª Rum when cutting the timber for the church 11s."-the next item being, " To cash paid to Phinn & Ellice for rum and sugar when rideing timber £4 9s. 4d .*
The site of the old meeting house cannot now be ascertained, nor can I learn concerning it more than that it was furnished with a bell. It was still in use 22 March, 1773, as at that date Mr. Fuller was paid £1 16s. 0d., for attending to the windows.
By the end of '73, the edifice seems to have been completed, and the bell in the new steeple with its leaden ball adorned with " 6 bookes of gold leaf " no doubt called the congregation to a joyful service of dedication, of which we have no notice whatever.
The church and lot are credited with an expenditure of about $1,800. The carpenter's work was done by Sam'l Fuller and John Hall. The church had a gallery and, on the ground floor, 21 wall and 22 "Boddy " pews and the carpenters agreed " to do the work on the Pulpit In the Same manner as In the English Church only it is to Joyn the wall So as to have no piller for a Soport & to make the Clark's Seat."
Of the size and strength of the congregation there is no record until much later; but in 1768 they felt able to compete with their brethren in Albany; for a letter of Mr. Brown to Sir Wm. Johnson at this time, in urging the necessity of securing Mr. Murray for St. George's, says: " We are the more Anxiously Solicitous on this Head as the Presbyterians are busee to get Mr. Bay among them "-this Mr. Bay being called about this time to the Pres- byterian church at Albany. The first minister who is known to have preached to the congregation statedly is the Rev. Alexander Miller.
Mr. Miller was a pupil of Rev. James Findley, a graduate of Princeton College in 1764, a student of theology under Dr. Rodgers, of New York, was
* As illustrating the " better days of our Fathers " may be mentioned also this entry, 3 Aug., 1771, To tickets bought at New Castle Lottery £4 16s. ; but I cannot learn that we enjoyed any such good luck here as did our friends and neighbors of St. George's church.
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licensed 1767, and ordained by the Presbytery of New York, 1770, which is the date of his settlement here. He may have preached here, however, prior to this date, and may possibly be the person alluded to in a letter of 25th Feb., '69, from the church wardens to Sir Wm., expressing their dis- appointment at not securing Mr. Murray, which " will be attended with the consequence of losing some part of our congregation by their joining the Dissenters, as they have provided themselves with a Gentleman who is much admired."
Mr. Kelly states that Mr. Miller left in 1781, during the summer. Mr. Miller also preached at Currie's Bush and Remsen's Bush in connection with his charge here. The elders in Mr. Miller's time, were James Wilson, James Shuler and Andrew McFarlan, with William White as deacon. The gram- mar school which was taught by Mr. Miller during the Revolutionary war, was, according to Spafford's Gazeteer, a very respectable one, " in which Gov. Tichenor of Vermont (and in which the late John Wells received his education), and others since celebrated acted as assistants."
During the war the Church, though not exposed to the outrages which were perpetrated upon the neighboring Episcopal church for political reasons, seems to have suffered greatly. Mr. Andrews had reported to the S. P. G. (year ending Feb., 1773) 43 communicants and 16 catechumens ; but Mr. Doty, his successor, reports in 1780 from Montreal, where he had taken refuge, that "his poor little flock has been almost dispersed and the few remain- ing were in the most deplorable circumstances " and had been informed by a young man, lately from Schenectady, that the congregation consisted of only 27 white adults, 20 children and some blacks. It is not likely that the Presbyterian Church was much less afflicted. The congregation was in arrears for salary due to Mr. Miller at the time that his successor, Mr. John Young, was called. Mr. Young* first came here about the middle of 1787, was ordained June 14th, 1788, and gave one-third of his time to Currie's Bush or Princetown. In the interval, however, there had been occasional supplies,t there is recorded the payment of £6-10-0 to Mr. Ball, whom I take to be the Rev. Eliphalet Ball of Bedford, N. Y., who was so much pleased with the country that in 1788 he took a portion of his congregation to settle in the region which is now called in honor of him, Ballston).
*According to Mr. Kelley's
+ In the absence of Mr. Miller (1771).
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The congregation at this time, and for years later, was composed of ele- ments which did not mix very kindly, Formalism contending stubbornly against the growing evangelical spirit in the Church, and Mr. Young was dismissed in consequence of the dissensions, 9th Dec., 1790 .* Perhaps one cause of the disaffection with him may be found in Mr. Kelley's note, " no session in his time."
From 1791 to 1795, among those preaching here occasionally, are Rev. Messrs. Baldwin, Chapman, Coe, Cook, Davenport, Dod, Dun, Judd, McDonald, Pomeroy, Schenck, Thompson and Williams.
With the election of the Rev. John B. Smith, to the presidency of the College, a brighter day dawned for the Church. Dr. Smith did much to re- organize the Church, ordaining 4 elders in 1795 or 1796,t viz. Alexander Kelly, John Taylor, Alexander Walmsley and John McAtyre.
On the 13th Sept., 1796, the Rev. Robt. Smith of Pennsylvania, a graduate of Princeton, was installed over the Church, which at this time numbered only 37 communicants. There were however about 85 pew holders, and the income of the Church from pews and subscriptions was a little over $700.
Mr. Smith remained until July, 1801, when the severity of the climate having impaired his health he sought refuge in Savannah, Ga., dying soon after his removal. He is said by Dr. Dwight to have been a man of re- markable gifts, resembling in many traits President Smith of the College, but excelling " him and most other men in amenity and tenderness of dis- position and sweetness of deportment." His life was sacrificed to his zeal and affection for his people. Under his ministry the Church received 51 additional members.
During the illness of Mr. Smith the Rev. Mr. Adair and Dr. Jonathan Edwards, Jr., second president of the College, frequently supplied the pulpit,
* Mr. Young requested a dissolution of the pastoral relation, Nov. 10th, 1790, on the ground of non payment of salary and ill health. The Church had not yet settled its in- debtedness to Mr. Miller who was still seeking payment, and the Church at Currie's Bush applied to Presbytery for two-thirds of Mr. Young's time on the ground that the Church in Schenectady, was no longer able to support him.
+ Mr. Kelly's paper gives the date as May 1st, 1796.
# The township of Schenectady contained in 1796, 3472 inhabitants, 683 being electors and 381 slaves.
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and as the collections for 1801 show an increase over previous records, and additions to the Church are also recorded, the impetus given by Mr. Smith's pastorate would seem not to have been arrested.
In March, 1802, three elders and 73 others, petition Presbytery for the speedy instalment of the Rev. William Clarkson, 20 petitioners, including two elders, however, pray that the installation may not take place. Mr. Clark- son's settlement was the signal for war among the discordant elements in the congregation, and shortly after such serious charges were preferred against him as that he did not "preach," but read sermons " contrary to Luke 4 : 16-23 where our Lord preached, said preaching being without notes." Mr. Clarkson was also charged with saying that " we never had such preach- ing here before, we had nothing but like the reading of an almanack," and the Presbytery failing to see the heinousness of Mr. Clarkson's homiletic shortcomings, a temporary secession of 24 families took place. Although considerable accessions to the Church took place in Mr. Clarkson's brief pastorate, his opponents claimed that the communicants had diminished one- half. During this unhappy contention in which perhaps Mr. Clarkson was rather the occasion than the cause of the quarrel, an election for elders had occurred and the session now consisted of Alexander Kelly, Alexander Walmsley, John McAtyre, Jas. Murdock, Jos. Shurtleff, Rob't Loague, Wm. Dunlap, Geo. Leslie and Caleb Lyon (elder John Taylor died 1801). The election seems to have intensified the strife, and in September, 1803, Mr. Clarkson sought peace in departure.
In the succeeding December, the Rev. John B. Romeyn, a son of Dr. Romeyn of the Reformed Dutch Church and founder of Union College, was settled over the Church at a salary of $625. But the Church was at strife, and in November, 1804, Mr. Romeyn also left. The number of communi- cants at this time could not have been much above 100, the highest rental for pews was but $35 and the support of the Church and pastor in the midst of such difficulties very doubtful and precarious. At least, Mr. Nathaniel Todd, ordained over the Church 11 Dec., 1805, was dismissed by Presbytery in the succeeding November, on the ground that the congregation were unable to support him.
For some time the Church depended upon temporary supplies, but, as if still further to complicate and confuse matters, the ear of the congregation - was taken by an Irishman of the Methodist Church, a lay preacher, Mr.
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John Joyce. In spite of the peril of a threatened schism if Mr. Joyce were not settled over the Church, Presbytery declined to entrust the Church to his care and declared it expedient for the session to resign that new elders might in the interest of harmony be elected. The new session consisted of Messrs. Kelly, Walmsley, Daniel Chandler and Prof. IIenry Davis, after- wards president of Middlebury, and still later of Hamilton college.
Notwithstanding its want of a pastor, and its internal differences, the Church does not seem to have lost any confidence in itself, for on the 3d of July, 1809, the corner stone of a new edifice was laid,* the old building on the site of the chapel being taken down, and the congregation worshipping for a time in the college chapel.
No doubt a large part of the strength and impulse in this movement came from the college. Dr. Nott from his accession to the presidency in 1804 had been a warm friend, and to his kindness, as well as that of Dr. McAuley and other members of the Faculty, it was probably in large measure owing that the Church came through its crisis with so little loss of strength. It was no doubt in grateful acknowledgment of their sympathy and practical help that the galleries of the church which was elliptical in form were so constructed as to enable the graduating classes to march down an inclined plane into the pulpit for their diplomas, and up again into the opposite gallery.
Meantime, the Rev. Alexander Monteith had been called to the pastorate, and on Aug. 29th, 1809, he was settled over the Church, remaining its pastor until his death, Jan. 29th, 1815. He must have been a judicious and good man, for there seems an absence of all party-strife during his ministry. The church must have also prospered generally, as there was an increase in its collections, its communion roll was enlarged by 62 additions, and the pastor's salary was advanced from $700 to $1000.
Mr. Monteith's successor was the Rev. Hooper Cummings, whose eloquence covered not a few of his own sins and other men's sermons. Eccentric and
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* Concerning the form of the original church building, nothing is certainly known, but it is believed that the church seal (an impression of which is here reproduced) represents it. This seal was made under the supervision of the late Dr. Magoffin, and it was the understanding of my predecessor and quite in conformity with Dr. Magoffin's habit of mind, that the seal was intended to represent the original structure.
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unfortunate, to speak mildly, Mr. Cummings' brief pastorate, judged by . statistics, was most successful. Installed 22d Nov., 1815, and dismissed 18th Feb., 1817, 65 persons were added to the communion roll, and work among the colored people prosecuted with vigor and success, Presbytery having authorized Messrs. Wisner and Davis, then members of the Church in Union College, to catechise and exhort among them.
During Mr. Cummings' ministry however, old strifes broke out again and it was not till the 8th of June, 1820, that another pastor could be secured, changes having occurred in the session, and some withdrawing from the Church, which in the interval enjoyed the services of Drs. Nott and McAnley. In April, 1820, the famous Mr. Nettleton preached, and the Church seems to have enjoyed spiritual prosperity, not less than 120 being added to the Church during the year. "Tokens"* at the communion were still in use, not being dispensed with till March, 1821, when members of other Evangelical Churches were welcomed to the Lord's table. Besides these changes, during Mr. (Walter) Monteith's pastorate (1820 to 1826), the old psalm book (Rouse) was relinquished, which indicates that a decided change was taking place in the sentiment of the Church. In Mr. Monteith's time also the old "Session House " was built by subscription, and not without much opposition from those who did not favor Sabbath Schools, prayer meetings and other "new fangled ideas." The Sunday School had been started by Mr. Jonathan Crane, an elder in the church, in the basement kitchen of his own house as a Mission Union School in 1817, but in 1824, it divided into two church schools, one Dutch, the other Presbyterian, which found a home in the session honse, though viewed with suspicion if not with dislike by many who regarded it as "a school for outcasts."
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