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 24
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194
WESTERN NEW YORK.
any saving benefit to any soul has resulted from this attempt, will be made known at the Great Day.
The operations of the Society for the benefit of the white inhabit- ants, continued to be carried on with a good degree of vigor and success till some time in the year 1818. About this period the treasurer of the Society failed in business, and he became insolvent, having in his hands funds belonging to the Society, to the amount of four hundred and forty-two dollars, none of which was ever re- covered by the Society. This circumstance put an effectual stop to the further employment of missionaries. A considerable period elapsed before all the debts of the Society were liquidated. Other missionary institutions had arisen on a more enlarged plan, and the friends and patrons of the Society directed their efforts into another channel, and suffered the Genesee Missionary Society to expire.
During the latter period of the Society's operations, between three and four years of missionary labor was performed, besides a considerable distribution of religious books and tracts. Among the names of missionaries employed by the Society, for longer or shorter periods, are found the following, viz. Rev. Messrs. Reuben Par- mele, Lyman Barritt, Abiel Jones, Aaron C. Collins, Samuel Parker, John Bascom, Oliver Ayer, Daniel Nash, Enoch Whipple, Hugh Wallace, Eleazar Fairbanks, Ira M. Olds, S. Tracy, Joseph Edwards, Charles Mosher, Ezra Woodworth, Reuben Hurd, Jesse Townsend, Daniel S. Butrick, Benjamin Baily, Roger Adams, and Jepthah Pool. What particular results were connected with the labors of these several missionaries cannot now be told. There can, however, be no doubt that they were instrumental in strength- ening the feeble churches, preparing the way for the organization of others, comforting the hearts of the people of God in the wilder- ness, and converting some sinners from the error of their ways.
Female Missionary Society of the Western District.
This Society was organized in Utica, in the year 1817, and was comprised mostly of ladies in Utica and the surrounding towns. Branch Societies in connexion with it were formed in various places. Of such Societies there were, in 1819, six in the county of Onondaga, five in the county of Cayuga, six in the county of Ontario, and eight in the county of Genesee, besides a number in counties further east. The receipts into the treasury for the year ending September 7th, 1819, amounted to more than thirteen hundred dollars. In 1827, this Society became auxiliary to the Western Domestic Missionary Society, and ceased to employ missionaries, limiting its operations to the obtaining of funds for the parent Society.
During the ten years of its independent existence, it employed annually a number of missionaries, several of whom labored with fidelity and effect on the territory to which this History relates ;
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195
MISSIONARY OPERATIONS.
but, for a want of the necessary documents, the details of their labors cannot be recited.
The Young People's Missionary Society of Western New York.
This Society was organized at Utica in the year 1814 or 1815. It was composed of young people of both sexes, and its seat of ope- ration was at Utica. In the spring of 1815, Rev. Miles P. Squier, then a licentiate preacher, was employed as their first missionary. His particular designation was, to explore the more unsettled por- tions of the country, and form auxiliaries in the principal villages and towns in Western New York. This service he performed with indefatigable industry and success. In the fulfilment of his mission he entered upon the territory to which this history relates, at Wolcott, passed on to Clyde, thence through Geneva and Ro- chester, by the ridge road to Lewiston and Buffalo, where he spent two weeks, and then returned to Utica by a more southern route. Soon after the appointment of Mr. Squier, Rev. Elisha P. Swift, also a licentiate preacher, received a similar appointment on a more southern route, which he ably fulfilled, and with much success. Many Auxiliary Societies were formed by these missionaries, whose contributions replenished the treasury of the parent Society, and enabled it to prosecute the work of missions with a good degree of vigor, and for several years this Society did considerable to supply the destitutions of Western New York.
The Western Domestic Missionary Society, Auxiliary to the American Home Missionary Society.
This Society was organized by a Convention held at Utica, June 7th, 1826. It acted independent of the Parent Society, both in the appointment of missionaries, and in raising funds for their support. Its first Annual Report, dated May 3d, 1827, exhibited an income of two thousand, five hundred and seventy-seven dollars for the year, and thirty missionaries appointed to fields of labor, some of whom were employed within the counties of Onondaga, Madison, and Chenango ; but most of them in places further north and east. These missionaries were not itinerants, appointed for a few weeks to travel and preach, but were stationed in particular congrega- tions, to receive the principal part of their support from the people to whom they ministered. From the second Annual Report, it ap- pears that during the year ending May 1st, 1828, fifty-five mis- sionaries in the service of the Society had ministered to about one hundred congregations. Of these, fourteen were assigned to fields within Western New York. Their commissions were generally for one year. During the next year, the Society had in employ sixty-four missionaries, but their particular fields of labor are un- known to the writer, as well as the proportion of labor which was
196
WESTERN NEW YORK.
expended upon the field, concerning which he treats. After this period the Society was dissolved, and its place supplied by the Central Agency of the American Home Missionary Society, and all its operations were involved with those of that Society.
Young Men's Missionary Society of New York.
On the twenty-third day of January, 1809, a number of young men of different religious denominations, in the City of New York, formed themselves into a Society " for the purpose of raising a fund to aid in promoting the objects of the New York Missionary So- ciety." The Society was denominated " The Assistant New York Missionary Society." In 1816, they resolved on the future manage- ment of their own funds, independently of the Parent Society, and took the style of " The Young Men's Missionary Society of New York." Near the close of the same year, in consequence of a division in sentiment respecting the qualifications of the missionaries to be em- ployed by the Society, a secession took place, and, on the twenty seventh day of December, 1816, a new Society, denominated “ The New York Evangelical Missionary Society," was organized. The two Societies continued their missionary operations, independent of each other, until a short time after the organization of the United Domestic Missionary Society, which occurred in May, 1822. Shortly after this event, the two Societies transferred their en- gagements and relations to this new Society. To what extent their missionary operations affected Western New York, the writer is not informed. It appears, that, at the time of the transfer of engagements to the United Missionary Society, they had twenty- six missionaries in employ, some of whom were laboring in West- ern New York.
United Domestic Missionary Society.
This Society was organized in the city of New York, in the month of May, 1822, by a convention of delegates from various domestic missionary associations. The term " United" was em- ployed in giving it a name, because it was a union of various small er associations, and because it embraced as members, persons of different religious, but kindred denominations. Hon. Stephen Van Rensselaer, of Albany, was elected President, and held the station till the Society was merged in the American Home Missionary Society. In the first Annual Report, made in May, 1823, fifteen missionaries are named, who were appointed to labor in Western New York. Of these, nine were commissioned for one year, two for six months, three for four months, and one for two months. The report for May, 1824, records the names of nineteen mission- aries commissioned during the year, to labor in Western New York. Fourteen of these were appointed for twelve months, two
197
MISSIONARY OPERATIONS.
for six months, one for three months, and two for two months each. The report for 1825 gives a list of thirty-five names of missionaries appointed to labor on needy fields in this portion of the vineyard. Six of these received commissions for one year, nine for three months, eight for two months, two for four weeks, and for ten no period is named in the report ; it is supposed that their commissions, generally, were for one year. The fourth and last Annual Report of the Society, made May 12th, 1826, names forty-two missionaries commissioned for Western New York, the year preceding. Thirty- six of these held commissions for one year, one for six months, and respecting five, the period of their commissions is not men- tioned. It is supposed to have been for one year. By these forty- two missionaries, forty-seven feeble congregations were aided in supporting the stated ministrations of the Gospel, many of which, without this aid, would have been destitute.
At the annual meeting of the Society, in the city of New York, May 12th, 1826, a Constitution for a Society of greater extent, and which was designed to embrace kindred denominations throughout the boundaries of the United States, was laid before the Society. This Constitution had previously received the approbation of a Convention, numerously attended, which had been held two days previously, and at which a resolution had passed, recommending that the United Domestic Missionary Society, by the adoption of the Constitution, should become " The American Home Missionary Society." The Society, in accordance with the recommendation of the Convention, "Resolved-That the recommendation of the Convention be adopted, and that the United Domestic Missionary Society now become the American Home Missionary Society, un- der the Constitution recommended by the Convention."
American Home Missionary Society.
The Convention by which the Constitution for this Society was recommended, was composed of distinguished individuals of the clergy and laity from the States of New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylva- nia, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Alabama, and Arkansas. The second article of the Constitution declares the great object of the Society to be, " to assist congregations that are unable to support the gospel ministry, and to send the gospel to the destitute within the United States." Immediately after the or- ganization of the Society by the adoption of the Constitution, Hon. Stephen Van Rensselaer, LL.D., of Albany, was elected President of the Society. Rev. Absalom Peters was chosen Corresponding Secretary. Twenty-six gentlemen, in different parts of the United States, distinguished as civilians or clergymen, and belonging to different but kindred denominations of professing Christians, were elected Vice-Presidents ; fifty Directors, of similar character, were
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198
WESTERN NEW YORK.
elected, and an Executive Committee consisting of ten individuals residing in the city of New York, of whom six were laymen and four clergymen, besides the Treasurer, the Corresponding Secre- tary, and the Recording Secretary. The principal Auxiliary So- cieties connected with the American Home Missionary Society are, the Maine Missionary Society, the New Hampshire Missionary Society, the Vermont Domestic Missionary Society, the Massachu- setts Home Missionary Society, the Rhode Island Home Missionary Society, the Connecticut Missionary Society, the Philadelphia Home Missionary Society, and the Missouri Home Missionary Society. Be- sides these Auxiliary Societies, the Parent Society has a number of Agencies, composed of a number of individuals, clergymen and lay- men, in different parts of the country, each Agency having the princi- pal management of the missionary concerns within a certain defined district. These Agencies are, the Central Agency of the State of New York, the Western Agency of the State of New York, the Western Reserve Agency (Ohio), the Marietta Agency (Ohio), the Cincinnati Agency (Ohio), and the Wisconsin Agency. Inaddition to these the So- ciety maintains an agent in Michigan, another in Illinois, and another in Iowa. The Western Agency for the State of New York has the supervision of the missionary concerns of the Society in the counties of Cayuga, Tompkins, Tioga, and all the counties in the State, which lie to the west of these. The Central Agency has relation to that part of the State which lies east of these counties, north of Dela- ware and Greene, and west of the Hudson river and Lake Cham- plain. The territory over which the Western Agency has super- vision is wholly within Western New York. The Central Agency embraces the counties of Onondaga, Cortland, Broome, Chenango, and Madison, which we have included in Western New York. The Western Agency, originally denominated the Geneva Agency, was first established by the United Domestic Missionary Society, and when that establishment became the American Home Mission- ary Society, the Agency was continued, and its number of mem- bers and field of operations were considerably enlarged. Rev. Miles P. Squier was, for a number of years, the efficient Secretary of this Agency. After his resignation, Rev. John Murray succeeded him, and for a number of years past has successfully discharged the duties of Secretary and General Agent. The Central Agency, on the dissolution of the Western Domestic Missionary Society, was established in October, 1829. The seat of its operations was Utica. Rev. Ralph Cushman was the first Corresponding Secretary and Agent. He was succeded by Rev. Ova P. Hoyt, who was succeeded by Rev. Abijah Crane, by whom the duties of the office have been performed ever since 1832, up to the period of his death, which occurred, May 14th, 1847. He was succeeded by Rev. Washington Thatcher.
The mode of operation of the American Home Missionary Society
199
MISSIONARY OPERATIONS.
from the beginning has been, with very few exceptions, to appoint the missionary to a particular congregation, or, perhaps, two, or even three contiguous congregations, to remain stationary in the field to which he is appointed, and perform the duties of a pastor or stated supply. The appointment is made on the application of the people with whom the missionary is to labor, and on proper testimonials that they need the assistance of the Society in the support of their minister. The minister is required to bear credentials satisfactory to the ecclesiastical judicatory with which he is connected, which must be a body of an orthodox character. The aid is continued as long as it is judged to be needed. The whole support of the missionary is not, except in very few instances, assumed by the Society. The commission is generally for one year, the mission- ary to receive his compensation for a certain portion of the year, generally not more than three months, at the rate of $400 for the year, from the treasury of the Society. In its manner of operation it is mostly a Society to assist indigent churches to support a pastor. The field of its operations is the United States. During the year 1845, its missionaries were laboring in twenty-six different States and Territories. Since its organization in 1826 its funds and, consequently, its appointments, and its usefulness, have very greatly increased, and, as we believe, it has been growing in favor both with God and man. During the first year of the Society's existence, the year ending May, 1827, the number of missionaries who had been commissioned by the Society, was one hundred and sixty-nine, of whom one hundred and twenty-six were pastors cr stated supplies in single congregations ; twenty-five divided their labors between two or more congregations; and eighteen, including agents, were allowed to exercise their ministry over territories of larger extent. These missionaries had performed, within the year, an aggregate of ministerial labor amounting to one hundred and ten years, and the average proportion of aid in their support, granted by the Society, was less than one fourth. The receipts into the treasury of the Society during the year, were to the amount of $20,031, 21, and the disbursements, $13,384 17. In the course of the year ending May, 1846, at which period the Society had been twenty years in existence, the Society had had in its ser- vice nine hundred and seventy-one ministers. Six hundred and eighty-three were pastors or stated supplies of single congrega- tions, and two hundred and eighty-eight had ministered to two or three congregations each, or had extended their labors over still wider fields. The aggregate of ministerial labor performed, was equal to seven hundred and sixty years, and the number of congre- gations and missionary districts supplied, in whole or in part, at stated intervals, with the preaching of the gospel and its ordinan- ces, was fourteen hundred and fifty-three, while many others enjoyed the occasional services of the missionaries. The receipts
200
WESTERN NEW YORK.
into the treasury of the Society for the year, including the balance on hand at its commencement, amounted to the sum of $128,928 40, and the disbursements to $126,193 15. From this statement it will be seen that the operations of the Society in twenty years had in- creased in about a six-fold proportion.
The attention of the American Home Missionary Society has, from the beginning, been directed to the territory of Western New York. At the time of the organization of the Society, distinguished individuals from Western New York were present at the organi- zation, took an active part in the deliberations, and identified them- selves with the Society. Many churches in Western New York were both able and willing to contribute liberally for the support of domestic, as well as foreign missions. There were, at the same time, many churches unable, without foreign aid, to support the ministry among them, and many vacancies where churches were needed, if in any way provision could be made for the support of regular preaching. The churches generally were disposed to em- ploy the American Home Missionary Society as their agent through which to transact their missionary concerns. Nearly one-eighth of the whole income of the Society, during the first year of its opera- tions, was derived from Western New York, and congregations, auxiliary societies, and individuals, contributed in the full expecta- tion that their own wants would claim the particular attention of the Society. During the whole period of the Society's operations, as near as the writer can ascertain, somewhat more than four hun- dred churches in Western New York have, to a greater or less extent, been aided in the support of a minister, by the funds of the Society. To name all the congregations thus aided, with the mis- sionaries who have supplied them, would be of little utility. But that the amount of the Society's operations in Western New York may be in some measure seen at one view, we here give the aggre- gate results for the several years of the Society's operations, extracted from the Annual Reports, which must be a very near approach to the truth. The first column marks the year, which is to be under- stood as ending with the month of April ; the second column con- tains the number of congregations aided during that year ; and the third, the aggregate proportion of time for which the funds of the Society were pledged, as near as can be ascertained.
1827,
64,
12 years and 6 months.
1828,
68,
13 years.
1829,
76,
16 years.
1830,
95,
17 years and 10 months.
1831,
78,
15 years and 5 months.
1832,
85
16 years and 9 months.
1833,
90,
15 years and 11 months.
1834,
108,
20 years and 4 months.
201
MISSIONARY OPERATIONS.
1835,
110,
22 years and 8 months.
1836,
98,
20 years and 9 months.
1837,
100.
23 years and 8 months.
1838,
93.
19 years and 8 months.
1839,
94,
17 years and 5 months.
1840,
110,
22 years and 4 months.
1841,
102,
21 years and 8 months.
1842,
119,
34 years and 11 months.
1843,
122,
26 years and 8 months.
1844,
115,
22 years and 5 months.
1845,
109,
21 years and 8 months.
1846,
110,
24 years and 8 months.
The number of missionaries commissioned is nearly the same as the number of churches aided, but somewhat less, as in some in- stances the same missionary divided his labors between two or more congregations. The commissions generally were given for one year, and repeated the succeeding year, if necessary. The average proportion of aid which has been granted is something less than one quarter of the missionaries' salary estimated at four hun- dred dollars for the year. The above schedule gives the length of time as stated in the missionary's commission. In numbers of instances, the missionary left the ground before the expiration of the term. Of course the time must be somewhat overrated in the schedule. It ought to be noted, that the contributions from Western New York to the funds of the Society, very considerably exceed the amount appropriated for the aid of the feeble churches in the region ; so that, though at first view it might seem as though Wes- tern New York received an undue proportion of aid from the Society, yet in fact, it is the case that she supports her own weak congregations, and supplies her destitutions, and at the same time, contributes five or six thousand dollars annually for the supply of the destitute in other parts of the great Home Missionary field.
As to the favorable results of the operations of the American Home Missionary Society in Western New York, it may be re- marked, that, during the twenty years in which the Society has been endeavoring to cultivate this field, the number of churches has more than doubled, the number of communicants has increased in a still greater proportion, a greater proportion of congregations are supplied with stated preaching and administration of gospel ordinances, many edifices for the worship of God have been erect- ed, parsonages have been built, and debts have been cancelled which for years had lain as a heavy burden on the churches. All those institutions which grow up under the shadow of living churches, and which result from the faithful continued preaching of the gospel, attended by the enlightening and sanctifying influ- ences of the Holy Spirit, have been in a good measure prosperous.
202
WESTERN NEW YORK.
Western New York, during the twenty past years, besides supply- ing her own destitutions, has contributed through the American Home Missionary Society, for the supply of the destitutions in other parts of the field, at least five times as much as has ever been ex- pended on her by eastern Missionary Societies. She now con- tributes, annually, to the different objects of Christian benevolence, more than fifty thousand dollars. She has given her sons and her daughters to the missionary work, both in our own country and among the heathen in distant lands, and she has furnished pious emigrants in immense numbers, to establish and build up churches in the Far West. How much of this is the result of the operations of the American Home Missionary Society, can be known accu- rately, only through the revelations of the Great Day. But no doubt can be entertained, that the Society, instrumentally, has been the cause to a very great extent of effecting these blessed results. Through the aid of the Society, the gospel has been statedly preached in very many places where it would not have been other- wise dispensed ; the Holy Spirit has made it quick and powerful ; souls have been converted, and all those blessed consequences, which are the result of the Spirit's operations, have taken place. In the report of the Society for May, 1832, mention is made of revivals in thirty-nine congregations, supplied by the missionaries of the Society, in twenty-nine of which, the estimated aggregate number of conversions was more than one thousand. But for the aid fur- nished by the Society, many of these congregations would have been destitute of that instrumentality, which God has appointed for the conversion of souls. The labors of this Society are still con- tinued, and must, perhaps, be long continued, or many more churches in Western New York will be without the stated preach- ing of the gospel. They yet depend on missionary aid in support- ing the institutions of religion. The mode of the operation of the Society is adapted to their wants, and they never cry for aid with- out obtaining it. The aid afforded by this Society to Western New York is vastly more than that of all other Missionary Socie- ties united. With reference to it, we may say : " Give her of the fruit of her hands ; and let her own works praise her in the gates."
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