USA > New York > A history of the purchase and settlement of western New York : and of the rise, progress and present state of the Presbyterian Church in that section > Part 11
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landholders or companies for the formation of religious societies, by promises of land to the first regularly incorporated religious society which should be organized in a township. Such a promise for one hundred acres of land was made by Col. Robert Troup, the principal agent of the Pulteney Estate, with a view to induce settlers to locate on the estate. A similar promise was made by the Holland Land Company, whose principal agent was Joseph Ellicott. These promises, however, in but a very few instances were fulfilled. A small number of Presbyterian or Congregational churches obtained lots, and perhaps a few others, but the number was small. Mr. Ellicott disregarded the Sabbath, and was hostile to religious institutions. His influence had an unfavorable effect upon the religious state of the Holland Purchase ; and, for a period after the settlement of that part of the Genesee country commenced, it was a common observation, that Sabbath-day did not extend westward beyond the Genesee river. To this very frequent obser- vation, there was at least one very noted exception. This was the Scotch settlement of Caledonia. This settlement was commenced about the year 1800 by emigrants from Scotland. Finding their situation agreeable, they communicated their views to their friends in Scotland. Others were induced to emigrate and join them, and in a short time a considerable settlement was formed. These settlers were all Presbyterians of the Kirk of Scotland, and brought with them and sustained the habits in which they had been trained from infancy, particularly their strict regard for the Sabbath and other religious institutions. A Presbyterian church was here or- ganized on the fourth day of March, 1805, by Rev. Jedidiah Chap- man, missionary of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. The following is an extract from his journal :- " Lord's Day, March 3d .- I preached in Caledonia in a large school-house, which was full, and large numbers out of the door. The people are chiefly Highlanders from Scotland ; they appeared not only decent and attentive, but very solemn. They expressed a desire, if I thought proper, to be organized as a Presbyterian church. I then appointed a conference on Monday for that purpose.
"Monday .- The people met. Conference opened with prayer. After giving an exhortation on the occasion, proceeded to receive and examine certificates. Numbers of them were produced from various parts of Scotland, and approved. Several person's were examined who had never joined the church and approved, and some, who were not approved, but desired to wait in the use of means till another opportunity. Matters being thus prepared, I then proceeded to organize them. They solemnly adopted the Confession of Faith of the Presbyterian Church, and the Directory for Church Government and Discipline. They solemnly covenanted to walk together in all the ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ, as a church of Christ in the Presbyterian order. They chose three
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elders, two of whom were to officiate as deacons .- After sermon, proceeded to ordain the deacons and elders. These people ap- peared to be very sensibly affected, and very thankful to me for coming among them, to the General Assembly for their care, and to the great Head of the Church for these privileges and blessings in the wilderness. They also engaged to keep up the publie wor- ship of God on the Lord's Day among themselves, until it should please the Lord to send them a gospel minister."
This church became attached to the Presbytery of Geneva in 1806. At the same time Mr. Alexander Denoon, a young gentle- man from Scotland, who had received his education at the Uni- versity of Aberdeen, was licensed to preach the gospel, he having passed through all the parts of trial required by the constitution of the Presbyterian Church, satisfactorily to the Presbytery. Mr. Denoon was immediately upon this employed to preach in the church of Caledonia, and on the seventeenth day of August, 1808, was ordained and installed pastor of the church, a station which he has continued to hold till the present time. The church of Caledonia was the first church of the Presbyterian order which was organized in the State of New York west of the Genesee river, and the ordination and settlement of Mr. Denoon was the first case of the kind which occurred in that region.
At the meeting of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 1802, the Presbytery of Albany, which then contained but fourteen ministers, was divided into three Presbyteries, viz. the Presbytery of Albany, the Presbytery of Columbia, and the Presbytery of Oneida. This latter Presbytery embraced all the territory in the State of New York west of the east line of the counties of Otsego and Herkimer, including the Rev. Messrs. Fish, Lindsley, Dodd, and Lewis of the Presbytery of Albany, and Mr. Chapman of the Presbytery of New York, and Mr. Snowden of the Presbytery of New Brunswick. Mr. Chapman and Mr. Linds- ley resided in Western New York, the others on territory further east. No church in Western New York was at this period con- nected with the Presbytery. The next year these Presbyteries were constituted a Synod, to be known by the name of the Synod of Albany. At the meeting of the General Assembly in 1805, the Presbytery of Oneida was divided, and the Presbytery of Geneva was erected. Its eastern boundary was the western line of the counties of Oneida and Chenango, and it included all that part of Western New York which lies west of that boundary. The ministers who composed it were, Rev. Jedidiah Chapman of Gene- va, Rev. John Lindsley of Ovid (now Covert), Rev. Samuel Lea- cock of Gorham (now Hopewell), and Rev. Jabez Chadwick of Milton (now Genoa).
The churches connected with the Presbytery at the time of its organization, were Ovid, Geneva, Geneseo, Ulysses 1st, Ulysses 2d,
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Seneca, Junius, and Gorham. The church of Ovid was located within the limits of the present town of Covert. Rev. John Lindsley was its pastor. In 1808 it was dismissed from its relation to the Presbytery, to connect with a classis of the Reformed Dutch Church. The church of Geneseo is the present church of Lake- ville ; the first church of Ulysses, now Trumansburgh ; the second church of Ulysses, now Ithaca ; the church of Seneca located where the village of Ovid now stands, denominated the church of . Ovid ; the church of Junius, now Seneca Falls; and the church of Gorham, now Hopewell. The church of Geneva retains its original name. In accordance with the appointment of the General Assem- bly, the Presbytery met at Geneva on the seventeenth day of Sep- tember, 1803, and was opened with a sermon by Rev. David Hig- gins, of Aurelius, and was constituted with prayer by Rev. Jedidiah Chapman. The ministers of the Presbytery who were present on this occasion were Messrs. Chapman, Lindsley, and Chadwick. The author is not certain whether Mr. Leacock had deceased pre- vious to this meeting for organization, or whether his death occurred a short time afterwards. The ruling elders who were present as members of the Presbytery, were Stephen Voorheis, Oliver Wet- more, Daniel Kelly, Jabish Havens, Henry Beers, Abial Fry, and John McMath. At this meeting of the Presbytery, Rev. Garritt Mandeville, from the classis of Ulster of the Reformed Dutch Church, was received as a member of Presbytery, on his producing testimonials of his regular standing in the classis, and of his regular dismission and recommendation, he at the same time declaring his belief in the Articles of Faith, and his approbation of the govern- ment and discipline of the Presbyterian Church. The church of Newtown and Chemung, and the church of Romulus, were received under the care of the Presbytery. During the meeting the follow- ing question was discussed and answered in the affirmation, viz .- "Can the Presbytery consistently receive as a constituent member of their body a minister belonging to an Association, without his discontinuing his connexion with the Association?" After the decision of this question, Rev. David Higgins, and Rev. Hezekiah North Woodruff, members of the Middle Association, on their re- quest, were received as members of the Presbytery, they having expressed their approbation of the Confession of Faith and form of government of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Higgins was the pastor of the church of Aurelius, and Mr. Woodruff the pastor of the church of Scipio. The affirmative decision of this question seems to have been in accordance with the general sentiments en- tertained in the Presbyterian and Congregational Churches of that day. The records of the Presbytery were approved by the Synod on review, and the principle was considered as established. At the present time it would probably be considered by most ec- clesiastical bodies as an incorrect decision. But whether the deci-
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sion of this question by the Presbytery was correct or otherwise, it undoubtedly laid the foundation for the preponderance of the Pres- byterian interest, which eventually prevailed in Western New York.
The special care which was taken in the early settlement of Western New York by all the existing ecclesiastical judicatories of the Presbyterian and Congregational denominations, that none but pious and orthodox men should preside over the churches, may be seen in a resolution adopted by the Presbytery of Geneva at a meeting held at Ulysses, for the purpose of installing Rev. Garritt Mandeville pastor of the united congregations of Ulysses, on the fifth day of November, 1805. The resolution was in the following words, viz .- " Resolved, that this Presbytery will not proceed to instal any minister over a particular church, without first examin- ing him, and being satisfied as to his experimental religion and knowledge of divinity." Another resolution passed at the same time, expresses a similar feeling on the subject of ministerial quali- fications. "Resolved, that no minister belonging to any other denomination or judicatory be received as a constituent member of this Presbytery, without first being examined as to his experimental knowledge in religion, and his soundness in the faith, and delivering a public sermon before Presbytery." The practice which was established by these resolutions of the Presbytery, had been the uniform practice of the Congregational Associations and Councils from the commencement of the existence of ecclesiastical Councils in Western New York. It was a practice which the first ministers brought with them from the New England States ; the practice of their Puritan fathers. The early ministers of Western New York, both Congregational and Presbyterian, were very harmonious in their theological views, and in their sentiments respecting the quali- fications for admission to sealing ordinances. They all held to the necessity of visible piety as a qualification for church membership. In the admission of members to the church, they were generally strict in their examinations on the subject of personal piety, and desired of the candidates a clear manifestation of a work of grace on the heart, as well as regularity in the life and conversation. In their views of theology there were some slight shades of difference, such as might be found among the New England divines of that period who were distinguished as evangelical and Calvinistic. They all professed to be Calvinists, and were such in reality. They required that those ministers with whom they associated should cordially believe, and diligently inculcate in their public teaching those great and fundamental truths. They honestly believed them efficacious in converting the soul through the power of the spirit attending the Word. They were, therefore, abundant and earnest in preaching them.
Mention has been made in a preceding chapter of the or- 6
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ganization of the Middle Association on the Military Tract. The churches to which our history relates, which were formed on that Tract east of the Cayuga lake, were almost all of them of the Congregational order. They were mostly connected with the Middle Association. The ministers in that region generally held the same connexion. The number of churches and ministers was increasing from year to year. The individual churches were in- creasing in the number of their members by immigrations from abroad, and by conversions to some extent from the world at home. They were enlarging in their means for the support of religious in- stitutions, and numbers of them obtaining settled pastors. Three of their ministers, Messrs. Higgins, Woodruff, and Chadwick, were con- nected also with the Presbytery of Geneva. As the ministers and churches of the two denominations were intermixed with each other, and were harmonious in their theological views, in their sen- timents on the subject of qualifications for church membership, and the administration of the sacraments, and order of public worship, it was the opinion of some of them that it would promote the in- terests of religion to have a more intimate union take place between the two denominations. At a meeting of the Association, held at some period prior to the seventh day of October, 1807, Rev. Joshua Leonard was appointed a commissioner on the part of the Association, to attend the meeting of the Synod of Albany at Cooperstown, on the day above mentioned, and make some propo- sitions for a union with that body, leaving the churches of the Asso- ciation at liberty to transact, if they pleased, their internal discipline according to the principles of Congregational government. Mr. Leonard attended the meeting of the Synod, and was cordially re- ceived by that body. Having communicated to the Synod the views and wishes of the Association, the Synod took the subject into serious consideration, and, "after mature deliberation, con- cluded it to be an object of great importance to the peace, pros- perity, and happiness of the congregations under their care, locally situated as they are together, as well as to the advancement of the interests of religion generally, that some plan of union and corres- pondence should exist between them." Under this impression the Synod appointed Messrs. Coe, Oliver, and Woodruff, a committee to prepare a draft of a letter to the Association, stating the readi- ness of the Synod, with the approbation of the General Assembly, to form as intimate a connexion with them as the constitution of the Presbyterian church would admit, and inviting them to become a constituent branch of the Synod, and assuring them of the cheer- fulness of the Synod to leave their churches undisturbed in the ad- ministration of their own government, until they should be better acquainted with the Presbyterian mode, and voluntarily adopt it. This committee prepared a draft, which after some conversations was approved, and is as follows :-
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FORMATION OF PRESBYTERIES.
Cooperstown, Oct. 9th, 1807.
" DEAR BRETHREN,-We received your communication by the Rev. Mr. Leonard with great pleasure, and were highly gratified with the object of his mission, which has occupied our serious attention. Situated as our judicatories are in a new country, rapidly increasing in its population ; blended as our people are in the same sentiments, and holding the same divine doctrines, it is certainly an object of interesting importance that we should be ce- mented together in some intimate bond of union and correspon- dence. Such a union would make us better acquainted, and increase our attachments to one another, as servants to our common Lord. It would facilitate the establishment of the Gospel in many of the destitute settlements of our country, by uniting our people in a common cause ; and it would enable us to combine our ex- ertions more effectually in suppressing error, licentiousness, and vice, and promoting the great interests of pure morality and unde- filed religion. Prompted by these considerations, and animated with a desire to do all in our power to advance the general interests of the Redeemer's kingdom, the Synod of Albany stand ready, with the approbation of the General Assembly, to form as intimate con- nexion with your Association as the constitution of the church will admit.
" We most cordially invite you to become a constituent branch of our body, by assuming the characteristic and scriptural name of Presbytery, and adopting our standard of doctrine and govern- ment, and sit and vote with us in all the great and interesting con- cerns of the church. Deeming the name, however, far less impor- tant than the thing, although of consequence to uniformity in the same body, yet, should you be solicitous to retain yours, it will not be considered, on our part, as a bar to so desirable a union. Nor do we confine our invitation to you as ministers ; but we also extend it to delegates from your churches, whom we are willing to receive as substantially the same with our ruling elders, to assist us in our public deliberations and discussions. Knowing the influ- ence of education and habit, should the churches under your care prefer transacting their internal concerns in their present mode of Congregational government, we assure them of our cheerfulness in leaving them undisturbed in the administration of that govern- ment, unless they shall choose to alter it themselves."
"Should you accede to this plan of union and correspondence, and our General Assembly permit us to form it, which, we are dis- posed to think, they readily will, we anticipate the auspicious period as just at hand, when all the congregations of Presbyterian churches in this northern region will form one great phalanx against the common enemy, and combine their exertions to advance the mediatorial kingdom of our exalted Lord.
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" We are, Reverend Brethren, with sentiments of respect and esteem,
" Yours sincerely, " By order of the Synod, " SAMUEL F. SNOWDEN, Moderator."
This plan of union was by the Synod laid before the General Assembly at its next meeting, in May, 1808, and by the Assembly was fully sanctioned, as appears from the Minutes of the Assembly. Vol. ii. p. 258., and from the Assembly's Digest, p. 310.
The Association adopted this plan of union with the Synod, and at the next meeting of the Synod at Aurora, the union was consum- mated. The record of the transaction, as inserted in the minutes of the Synod, is as follows :- " Whereas it appeared that the plan of union and correspondence, proposed by the Synod at their last meeting between them, and the Middle Association on the Military Tract and its vicinity, has been transmitted to said Association ; and, whereas, the said Association have acceded to said plan of union and correspondence, as appears from the records of said Association, adduced by the Rev. Hugh Wallis and Deacon Peter Hitchcock, who are deputed to act on this subject ; and, whereas, the General Assembly have permitted the Synod to form this plan of union and correspondence, therefore,
" Resolved-That the Middle Association on the Military Tract and its vicinity, be received as a constituent branch of the Synod, and they are hereby received accordingly, retaining their own name and usages in the administration of the government of their churches, according to the terms stated in the plan."
On the passage of this resolution, Rev. Messrs. Joshua Leonard, Hugh Wallis, Nathan B. Derrow, Francis Pomeroy, and Reuben Hurd, and Messrs. Gilbert Weed, Peter Hitchcock, and Samuel Seward, delegates, being present, took their seats as members of Synod.
In the Minutes of the General Assembly for 1809, it is stated, that no report was received from the Middle Association, and they were not represented in the Assembly by any minister or delegate. In the General View of the state of the churches under the care of the General Assembly, the Middle Association is mentioned as connect- ed with the Synod of Albany, and as containing seventeen ministers. The names of the ministers are not given, nor is the number or the names of the churches under its care, furnished. The Presbytery of Geneva is reported as consisting of fourteen ministers, and hav- ing under its care twelve congregations. The ministers were, Rev. Messrs. Jedediah Chapman, Benjamin Bell, John Lindsley, David Higgins, Hezekiah N. Woodruff, Oliver Ayer, Howell R. Powell, Garret Mandeville, Jabez Chadwick, Ezekiel J. Chapman, Charles Mosher, Dirck C. Lansing, Alexander Denoon, and John Stuart.
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The churches named as under the care of the Presbytery, are, Geneseo, Ulysses, Milton, Romulus, Onondaga, Caledonia, Junius, Geneva, Gorham, and Seneca. Of the ministers named, Messrs. J. Chapman, Higgins, Woodruff, and Chadwick, were also members of the Middle Association, and Messrs. Powell, and E. J. Chapman, were also members of the Ontario Association. Twelve is reported as the number of the churches under the care of the Presbytery, when at the same time but ten are named. From the records of the Presbytery it appears that there were two Presbyterian churches in Ulysses, and that the church of Newtown and Che- mung had, at least, a nominal existence. As illustrative of the great change which has since taken place in Western New York generally, and in some places in particular, it may be remarked, that at this period the present large and wealthy churches of Geneva and Seneca (now Ovid) are reported as vacant, and unable to sup- port a pastor. In 1810, the Middle Association was represented by one minister, Rev. Joshua Leonard, and one Lay Commissioner, Col. John Lincklaen, in the General Assembly of that year.
As the Presbytery of Geneva and the Middle Association were now in the same ecclesiastical connexion, being both branches of the Synod of Albany, as they were not distinguished by territorial limits, but the ministers and churches of both bodies were dispersed over the same territory ; and as some of the ministers were mem- bers of both bodies, it was deemed expedient that some new arrange- ment should take place. As the Synod of Albany was extended over all Northern and Western New York, the amount of travel was so great as to render it very inconvenient for the distant mem- bers to attend the meetings ; and as the population of Western New York, and the number of ministers and churches was yearly increas- ing, it was considered desirable that a new synod should be formed as soon as the way should be prepared. Under these circumstances, the Synod of Albany, at their meeting in October, 1810, by request, formed the Presbytery of Geneva and the Middle Association into three presbyteries, distinguished by territorial limits. The ministers and churches situated to the west of the Cayuga lake, remained the Presbytery of Geneva. Those east of the Cayuga lake, and west of the dividing line between the counties of Cayuga and Onondaga, and including the town of Marcellus, in the county of Onondaga, constituted the Presbytery of Cayuga. The remaining ministers and churches belonging to the two bodies constituted the Presby- tery of Onondaga. The ministers continuing in the Presbytery of Geneva were,-Rev. Messrs. Jedidiah Chapman, Jolin Lindsley, Garrett Mandeville, Benjamin Bell, Charles Mosher, Oliver Ayer, Alexander Denoon, Ezekiel J. Chapman, Howell R. Powell, John Stuart, and Joseph Merrill. The churches connected with it were, -Geneva, Ovid, Genesee, Ulysses 1st, Ulysses 2d, Palmyra, Junius (now Seneca Falls), Gorham, Newtown and Chemung, Romulus
.
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and Caledonia. The Presbytery of Cayuga was composed of the ministers whose names follow, viz .- Rev. Messrs. David Higgins, Hezekiah N. Woodruff, Levi Parsons, Seth Smith, William Clark, Jeremiah Osborn, Francis Pomeroy, Royal Phelps, and Joshua Lane. The churches connected with this Presbytery were, - Skeneatoles, Aurelius, Locke, Mentz, Brutus, Sempronius, Scipio, Camillus, Genoa 1st, Genoa 2d, Genoa 3d, and Dryden. To the, Presbytery of Onondaga belonged-Rev. Messrs. Joshua Leonard, Hugh Wallis, John Davenport, Jabez Chadwick, Reuben Hurd, Dirck C. Lansing, Joshua Johnson, Andrew Rawson, William J. Willcox and Elnathan Walker. The churches under its care were, -Cazenovia, Onondaga, Onondaga Hollow, Pompey 1st, Norwich, Otisco, German, Homer, Lenox and Sullivan, Preble, Pompey 2d, Manlius, Fabius, Virgil, Cincinnatus, Smithfield, and Pompey 3d. These three presbyteries, in accordance. with an application from the Synod of Albany, were by the General Assembly at their meet- ing in May, 1811, constituted a synod to be called and known by the name of "The Synod of Geneva." In accordance with the order of the General Assembly, the Synod met at Geneva on the first Wednesday of October, 1811. The meeting commenced with public worship. Rev. David Higgins preached the sermon, and after divine service, was elected moderator of the Synod. The churches brought into the Presbyterian connexion by virtue of the plan of union and correspondence between the Synod of Albany and the Middle Association, and which received the sanction of the General Assembly, were considered as retaining the privileges reserved to them by that plan. The principle recognised in that plan, was also considered as an allowed principle for future action on the part of the Presbyteries in receiving churches under their care. These churches were in all respects Presbyterian, with the exception that their sessions consisted of the body of the brethren of competent age, instead of a bench of elders chosen for the pur- pose of government, and set apart by certain formalities. Minis- ters who were installed as pastors of these churches were set apart in accordance with the orders prescribed in the form of govern- ment of the Presbyterian church, and all ministers who were received as members of any of the Presbyteries from bodies other than Presbyterian, were required to adopt the Confession of Faith and form of government, and discipline in the Presbyterian church 'a the United States. Nor was this practice of receiving churches under the care of Presbytery, allowing them to administer the government of the church, by vote of the male members, and allow- ing one of the members deputed for that purpose to sit as a ruling elder, and vote in the higher judicatories of the church, peculiar to Western New York. It was a principle acted upon in other parts of the Presbyterian church in the United States. The Presbytery of Albany had several such churches attached to it. So also the
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