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 36
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69
-
.
301
PRESBYTERY OF CHENANGO.
the winter following the ordination of Mr. Wright, an interesting season of revival was enjoyed, commencing in the prayer-meeting, and arising to its greatest height without foreign aid. It continued several months, and resulted in the addition of thirty-eight members to the church. The number of members belonging to the church, according to the report of 1846, was one hundred and twenty.
Coventry Second Church .- This church was organized, June 21st, 1825, by Rev. John B. Hoyt, then residing in Greene. It con- sisted, according to the statement of Mr. Hoyt, of fourteen members dismissed from the first church of Coventry, for the purpose of a new organization. Mr. Wright, the pastor of the first church, says, that twenty-seven members of that church were dismissed for the purpose of organizing the second. The cause of the division was, the location of the original house of worship, it being entirely on one side of the congregation. Rev. Ira Smith preached as a stated supply, two or three years after its organization, and Kev. Seth Burt for about the same period. These were succeeded by the present pastor, Rev. John B. Hoyt, who was installed as pastor, June 19th, 1833. Soon after the organization of the church, it was taken under the care of the Presbytery of Chenango, on the "ac- commodating plan," and still retains its connexion. The church have a plain, comfortable house of worship, which is sixty feet in length, by forty-eight in breadth. It was erected the summer before the organization of the church. They have been blessed with several interesting revivals. In the autumn of 1831, was a most interesting work of grace in which were about four hundred hopeful conversions, and about fifty family altars were erected in the west- ern part of the town. There have been several seasons of revival since, mostly in connexion with protracted meetings, or conferences of churches. Nearly half of the population of the western section of the town are in the habit of attending worship with this church. There is a Baptist Church meeting in the village, and a Methodist Church about two and a half miles distant ; neither of them as large as the Presbyterian.
Greene .- Of the settlement of this town and village mention has been made in a preceding part of this work. Of the history of the church the writer has but little information. It was organized on the Congregational system, but at what period the author cannot say. It was received as a constituent member of the Union Asso- ciation, February 16th, 1819, and continued in this connexion to the dissolution of that body. Its name is first found on the Statistical Table in the minutes of the General Assembly for the year 1832. The two next years it is reported as consisting of one hundred and eleven members. In 1840 the number of members reported is one hundred and sixty-four, and in 1846, one hundred and forty-six
302
WESTERN NEW YORK.
The church has never had a pastor regularly installed. Rev. John B. Hoyt ministered to them as stated supply, about thirteen years, from 1820 to 1833. In 1837, the church is reported as vacant. In 1840, Rev. Azariah G. Orton is reported as stated supply. At what time he commenced his labors with this church is not known to the writer. He still continues to minister to them. This church had been aided by the American Home Missionary Society, one year in the support of Mr. Hoyt, and three years in the support of Mr. Orton. They have a commodious house of worship. There are also houses of worship for the Baptists, the Methodists, and the Episcopalians.
Masonville .- The name of this church is found in the Statistical Tables, for the only time, in 1846. Rev. Hervey Smith is reported as stated supply ; the number of members is not mentioned. This is all the information which the writer has respecting it.
Colesville .- The church which is known on the records of the Presbytery as the church of Colesville, is the church of which mention is made in a former chapter, and which was organized by Rev. Benjamin Judd, at Oquago (now Windsor), in August, 1793. At that period, all the eastern part of the present county of Broome belonged to the town of Chenango, and was mostly a wilderness. The church, at its organization, consisted of seven members. For a considerable period they enjoyed only occasional preaching, mostly by missionaries. The names of Rev. Messrs. Seth Willis- ton, David Harrowar, Joel T. Benedict, Joseph Badger, Joshua Johnson, Samuel Sargeant, James Jewell, and a Mr. Treat, are mentioned as occasional laborers in this part of the vineyard. Rev. William Stone also preached frequently in this place, in the inter- val between 1791 and 1795. Rev. Seth Sage removed into the place in the year 1800, and preached frequently in the region, from 1800 to 1807. Rev. Joel Chapin frequently preached, and was eminently useful in transacting the ecclesiastical concerns of the region. In December, 1800, a re-organization of the church took place : for what reason does not appear. They then adopted the Confession of Faith and mode of discipline maintained by the Morris County Associated Presbytery, and, as the author believes, connected themselves with that ecclesiastical body. At this period they took the name of "The Eastern Presbyterian Church in Che- mango." The members were scattered over a large territory embracing the present towns of Windsor and Colesville, and at this period worshipped in two places. One of these was a frame building in Windsor, erected for an Academy ; the other, a log school-house in the present town of Colesville. In 1812, in consequence of the extent of territory, ten of the members were set off as a separate church, now known as the church of Windsor. In March, 1816,
303
PRESBYTERY OF CHENANGO.
Rev. Joseph Wood was installed pastor of the two churches, but his health failing, he was dismissed in 1819. In the year 1818, the congregation erected a house of worship on Cole's Hill, which is vet standing. In 1827, it is reported as being under the care of the Presbytery of Chenango, and consisting of forty-three mem- bers, without a pastor or stated supply. No pastor regularly installed, except Mr. Wood, has ever presided over this church. They have at times enjoyed the ministrations of a stated supply. In 1829, Rev. Ira Smith is reported as supplying this church and Harpersville. In 1830 and 1831, Rev. John Sherer, under the patronage of the American Home Missionary Society, ministered to this church and that of Sanford one year. From May, 1832, for one year, this church and the church of Harpersville were supplied by Rev. Publius V. Bogue. The church has never been flourishing. The greatest number of members ever reported to the Presbytery was forty-five. This was in the year 1828. Some aggravating cases of discipline have occurred. This circumstance, with the deaths and removals of influential members, has reduced the church so that in 1836 or 1837, it ceased to act officially any more, and the church has become extinct. Its name is not found in the reports of the Presbytery since the year 1840. Its house of worship is occupied by the Baptist denomination.
Windsor .- The settlement of this place, and the organization of a church at Oquago on the fifteenth day of August, 1793, have already been narrated. The present church of Windsor was organized, Dec. 15th, 1812, by Rev. Ebenezer Kingsbury, and con- sisted of ten members taken from the original church formed at Oquago, and which afterwards became the church of Colesville. At the organization of the church, Mr. Kingsbury was chosen to act as standing moderator until the church should be otherwise provided for. Rev. Joseph Wood, as has been stated in the history of Colesville, was installed as pastor of both churches, on the sixth day of March, 1816, and, on account of ill health, was dismissed, Sept. 19th, 1819, though he retained the place of moderator in the meetings of the church till 1826. During the interval between the dismission of Mr. Wood and 1826, the church was some of the time destitute of a preached gospel, except an occasional Sabbath when an itinerating missionary came among them, and some of the time had a stated supply for a short season. As ministers who supplied to a greater or less extent, are mentioned the names of Rev. Messrs. Ebenezer Kingsbury, Manasseh M. York, Salmon King, Oliver Hill, David S. Morse, Samuel Manning, Reuben San- born, and Seth Burt. On the twenty-sixth day of September, 1826, Rev. John M. Babbitt was installed pastor of the church, and sus- tained that relation till June 15th, 1830. Not long after this, Rev. Elijah W. Stoddard commenced his labors here, and was installed
304
WESTERN NEW YORK.
pastor, June 6th, 1832. His dismission took place, Aug. 2d, 1836. After Mr. Stoddard's dismission, Rev. Hugh Carlisle, and Mr. James H. Scott, were successively employed as stated supplies, each for a short time, and after them Rev. Lyman Richardson, for a period of about two years. Immediately after Mr. Richardson closed his labors, Mr. Hiram W. Gilbert, the present pastor of the church, and then a licensed preacher of the gospel, commenced his labors in this place, and on the twentieth day of October, 1841, was ordained to the work of the gospel ministry, and installed pas- tor of the church, by the Presbytery of Chenango. The first three pastors of the church are now deceased.
The church was organized as a Congregational church, and con- tinued to transact the discipline of the church according to that order, until Jan. 26th, 1827, at which time, by a unanimous vote, the church adopted the Presbyterian form of government and dis- cipline, which is still in use. The church became connected with the Luzerne Association, June 15th, 1813, and when this body be- came merged in the Presbytery of Susquehannah, this church went with it. At the meeting of the General Assembly in May, 1827, this church, with that of Colesville, was, by a resolution of the As- sembly, transferred from the Presbytery of Susquehannah and Synod of New Jersey to the Presbytery of Chenango in the Synod of Geneva. In this connexion it has remained ever since. The church has a very convenient and appropriate house of worship, fifty-six feet in length and forty in breadth, with a basement story, which was dedicated to the service of God, Oct. 11th, 1842.
There have been several seasons of special religious interest, and some of powerful revival, in the congregation of Windsor. From the first organization in 1793 until 1810, the additions to the church were comparatively few, and many of them by letter. But in 1810 and 1811, under the faithful and earnest preaching of Rev. Messrs. Joel T. Benedict and David Harrowar, a precious season of re- freshing was enjoyed. Of this revival we have before spoken. Another revival was enjoyed under the labors of Rev. Samuel Manning, in 1823. The years 1830 and 1831 were years of revi- val ; also the year 1844, in which thirty-two members were added to the church by profession. The number of individuals who have been members of the church since its organization, including the original ten, is, according to the roll, two hundred and sixty. Of these, some have been dismissed, some have seceded, some are far removed and without letters, and some, perhaps forty-four, are fallen asleep. The present number of resident members (1846) is one hundred and thirty-seven. There are about two hundred and seventy families within the bounds of the congregation. Of these, from seventy to eighty attend worship with this Presbyterian church.
After the division of the Presbyterian Church in the United
1
305
PRESBYTERY OF CHIENANGO.
States by the exscinding act of 1837, several of the members of the church of Windsor were disposed to secede from the Presbytery of Chenango and join the Old School Presbytery of Susquehannah. Accordingly, in 1839, some twenty-five or thirty of the members seceded from the church of Windsor, and were organized, as a separate church, by Rev. John H. Reddington, at that time a mem- ber of the Presbytery of Susquehannah. This church, in 1846, numbered forty members, was under the care of the Presbytery of Steuben, and had for its pastor Rev. Adam Craig. There is in the town an Episcopal society, with services once in two weeks, but without a house of worship; a small Baptist church of the close communion order ; two societies of Free Will Baptists ; and Methodists of four descriptions, viz. the Episcopal, the Protestant, the true Wesleyan, and the Reformed. In the village there is a Methodist chapel, in which there is circuit preaching once each Sabbath.
Barker .- This church, which was formerly called Lisle third church, is first noticed in the reports of the Presbytery in the year 1831. The author supposes that it was then of recent formation. It then numbered thirty-six members. The number reported the next year was sixty-nine, thirty-one having been added by profes- sion. The succeeding year eighty-nine was the number of mem- bers reported, twenty of whom had been added during the year on their profession of faith in Christ. It would seem that these two years were years of revival. The last report (for 1846) gives, as the number of communicants, seventy-five, being a decrease of fourteen during the three preceding years. In 1831 and 1832, Rev. Seth Burt was reported as a stated supply to this church. The two next years the church is reported as being statedly sup- plied, but by whom is not known to the writer. In the report for 1837, and from that period down to 1846, Rev. Jeremiah Woodruff is reported as the stated supply. The church has been aided by the American Home Missionary Society, three years, in the sup- port of Mr. Woodruff. They have a house of worship which was finished in 1835, or the succeeding year.
Triangle .- The name of this church is first found on the Statis- tical Table in the Minutes of the General Assembly for the year 1832. It consisted at that period of ninety-nine members, thirty- five having been added the preceding year on examination. In the year 1834, thirty-six members had been added the preceding year on examination, making the whole number of members, at that period, one hundred and thirty-two. During these years Rev. Jeremiah Woodruff is reported as the stated supply to this church. Towards the latter part of the year 1837, Rev. Stephen Ellis was commissioned by the American Home Missionary Society to labor
20
306
WESTERN NEW YORK.
in this church. He seems to have continued his labor, under the patronage of the Society, for three or four years, and a revival is reported as having been enjoyed under his ministry, but to what extent the writer is not informed. In May, 1841, Rev. Hervey Smith was commissioned by the same Society to labor as a mis- sionary in this congregation. In 1843, he is reported as the pastor of the church. In 1846, the church is reported as consisting of one hundred and twenty-one members, and enjoying the ministry of a stated supply.
Rockdale .- This church is for the first time reported by the Presbytery, in 1832. It then consisted of twenty-three members, and was reported as vacant. The two next years it is reported as enjoying the labors of a stated supply, and the last of those years as consisting of sixty-five members. In succeeding years its name is regularly found in the reports to the General Assembly, but no particulars noticed, except that it is vacant. From the Reports of the American Home Missionary Society it appears that Rev. Elias Childs, in December, 1834, received a commission to labor in this field for one year. The writer believes that he continued but seven months of the time.
307
CHAPTER XXIII.
Presbytery of Onondaga .- Nelson, Peterboro' or Smithfield, Cazenovia, Canaseraga, Lenox, Wampsville, Oneida Lake, Ridgeville, Chittenango, Matthews's Mills, Man lius, Manlius Centre, Oran, Pompey, Pompey Centre, Delphi, Tully, Otisco, La Fayette, Jamesville, Fayetteville, De Witt or Orville, Britton Settleinent, Cicero, Liverpool, Salina, Syracuse, Syracuse Congregational Church; Syracuse Second Presbyterian Church : Onondaga West Hill, Onondaga Hollow, South Onondaga : Camillus, Camillus Third Church : Van Buren, Amboy, Baldwinsville, Lysander.
WE proceed in our narrative to give the history of the churches which have been connected with
THE PRESBYTERY OF ONONDAGA.
Nelson .- The settlement of this town commenced, as has been previously stated, in 1794, by a company from the State of Ver- mont. Almost all its early inhabitants were from that State and the States of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. When the church was first organized, by whom, or what number of members composed it, are circumstances not known to the writer. It be- came connected with the Union Association in September, 1813, and continued in that connexion till the dissolution of the Associa- tion. In 1825, for the first time, it is reported as under the care of the Presbytery of Onondaga. The number of communicants is not stated, and it is reported as vacant. In October of this year, the Presbytery of Cortland was organized, including the church of Nelson, to which it remained attached till 1835, when, by the Act of the Synod, it was re-annexed to the Presbytery of Onondaga. The church has never been in a flourishing state. The largest number of members which it has ever reported is fifty, and in the last report for 1846, the number was reduced to twenty-one. It has never had a regularly installed pastor. In the year 1831, and three successive years afterwards, Rev. Nathan Gillett was report- ed as its stated supply. With this exception it has uniformly been reported as vacant.
Peterboro' or Smithfield .- The name of this church on the Sta- tistical Tables in the Minutes of the General Assembly, is uniformly Smithfield, until 1840. On the Table for that year, and for 1846, it is named Peterboro'. The former is the name of the town; the latter, the name of the village, centrally situated in the town, and the place where the house of worship is erected. When the set- tlement of the town commenced, and at what period the church
308
WESTERN NEW YORK.
was organized, the writer is not informed. In 1812 the church was in connexion with the Presbytery of Onondaga. It was then with- out a pastor or stated supply. Rev. Jonathan Kitchell was in- stalled pastor of the church, Sept. 8th, 1814, by the Presbytery of Onondaga. His labors were continued till March 1st, 1821, when the pastoral relation was dissolved. Respecting the state of the church during his ministry the writer has no information. The first report of members is in 1825. The church at that time was composed of one hundred and forty-eight members. Rev. Hugh M. Boyd was then the pastor. In that year the church was trans- ferred to the Presbytery of Cortland, but was re-annexed to the Presbytery of Onondaga in 1835, in connexion with which it still remains. Rev. Samuel T. Mills was installed pastor, the author believes, in 1825 or '26, and sustained this relation till 1834 or '35. During his ministry some precious seasons of revival were expe- rienced. In 1827, twenty-one members are reported as added to the church on examination ; the next year, twenty ; and in 1832, fifty-eight. The whole number of members reported the latter year was two hundred and fifteen. The pastor who succeeded Mr. Mills was Rev. Abishai Scofield, but at what period he was instal- led the writer is not informed. He was dismissed in March, 1842. In 1846, Rev. Asa Rand is reported as a stated supply to this church, and the number of members as one hundred and seventeen.
Cazenovia .- The settlement of this place in 1793, by Col. John Lincklaen, and the organization of a Congregational church in 1799, by Rev. Joshua Leonard, have been narrated in a preceding part of this work. The church at its organization consisted of nine members. At this period Mr. Leonard was a resident in the place, and statedly preached to the people. Their place of wor- ship was a large school-house, with a desk and plain seats like pews without doors. Until the arrival of Mr. Leonard, no stated preaching was enjoyed. Mr. Leonard, at the commencement of his labors here, sought out and collected together the few profes- sors of religion in the vicinity, with a view to the organization of a church. In this work he was assisted by Mr. Jedidiah Turner, who had been deacon of a church on the Susquehannah. Those who had previously been members of churches were then living at considerable distances from each other, and unacquainted. Mr. Leonard collected them together, and a church was organized by the candidates giving their assent to a Confession of Faith, and a Form of Covenant, prepared for the occasion. This transaction took place on the seventeenth day of May, 1799. The names of the original members were, Rev. Joshua Leonard, Jedidiah Turner, Jacob Dannals, John Tappan, Samuel R. Coats, Anne Howd, Mary Dannals, Eunice Coats, and Alathea Root. Two days after the organization of the church, Jedidiah Turner was elected to the
309
PRESBYTERY OF ONONDAGA.
office of deacon. The church was organized on the Congregational platform, and became, at the formation of the Middle Association, connected with that body. Mr. Leonard was invited to take the pastoral charge of the church, and was, by an ecclesiastical council convened for the purpose, inducted into the pastoral office on the sixth day of June, 1799. On his coming to Cazenovia Mr. Leonard received as a gratuity, from the Holland Land Company, one hun- dred acres of land. His yearly salary was about five hundred dol- lars, which was raised the first three years by a tax upon the sub- scribers for his support, according to the amount of their property, as determined by the town assessment roll. Afterwards it was raised by voluntary subscription. Mr. Leonard continued the pas- tor of the church until July 27th, 1813, being a period of about four- teen years. He was dismissed by the Presbytery of Onondaga, with which he and the church were connected, on account of his declining health, and on his own request and the consent of the church. During the period of his ministry with this church, one hundred and sixty-nine members, of whom sixty were males, and one hundred and nine females, were received into the church. One hundred and twenty-seven remained members at the time of his dismission. Of the members received, about one half united by let- ters of recommendation from other churches, and the remainder on examination and profession. Among those who were received on a profession of their faith, was the late Col. John Lincklaen, the agent of the Holland Land Company, and the first settler in the town. He was a native of Holland, a gentleman of good educa- tion, and an active business man. At his settlement in Cazenovia he was careless on the subject of religion, and, as the writer be- lieves, sceptical in his views ; but from the time of his hopeful change, the evidence of his piety was very conspicuous. He was ever ready to devote his time and his property to promote the in- terests of the Redeemer's kingdom. For several years he per- formed the duties of stated clerk of the Presbytery of Onondaga, and generally represented the session of the church in the meetings of the Presbytery and the Synod. Twice he represented the body with which he was connected in the General Assembly. He died Feb. 9th, 1822.
Rev. John Brown succeeded Mr. Leonard in the pastorate. He came to Cazenovia a licensed preacher of the gospel, under the care of Orange Association, in the State of New Hampshire, and was by the Presbytery of Onondaga ordained and installed pastor of the church of Cazenovia, Dec. 8th, 1813. His dismission took place, as the writer believes, in 1828. He was succeeded by Rev. Charles White, whose ministry with the church was continued but two or three years, and after a period of some continuance, Rev. Eleazar S. Barrows was installed as pastor. He is reported on the minutes of the General Assembly in the year 1834, and again in 1836, after
310
WESTERN NEW YORK.
which there is no further report till 1840, at which time the church is reported as vacant. In 1843 it is reported as having a stated supply, and in 1846 Rev. James R. Davenport is reported as pas- tor.
This church has enjoyed several seasons of special divine influ- ence. One such in the latter part of the year 1815, and the suc- ceeding year has been already noticed in a former chapter. In the year 1828, forty-three members are reported as having been added to the church on examination, during the preceding year, and in 1832, the number of such additions reported was eighty-two. In that year, the total number of members reported was 326, which is the greatest number which has ever been reported. The whole number of communicants reported in 1846 was 246.
In the year 1805, the present commodious house of worship was built at an expense of more than $5,000, and was dedicated to the service of Almighty God, February 13th, 1806. It was erected on the north side of the green, facing Green street, where it stood till 1828, when it was removed to its present location on the north side of the public square near the centre of the village. The Congre- gationalists, the Baptists, and the Methodists have each of them a church in the village.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.