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 9
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The settlements on the Susquehannah river between Owego and Tioga Point (now the village of Athens) commenced soon after the settlement of Owego. They were made, it is believed, principally by people who came from the east, and entered the region by the way of Owego, down the Susquehannah. The settlements up the Chemung river were mostly by emigrants from Wyoming, some of whom were originally from Connecticut, or other New England
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States. The name of this river, Chemung, in the Indian language, signifies " Big Horn," and derived its name, it is said, from the circumstance of a horn of immense size having been found in the bed of the river by the Indians, at a former period. The river is sometimes called Tioga, sometimes the Chemung-the latter name applying to that part of the river only which intervenes between Painted Post and the Susquehannah. The settlements up this river are of a later date than the settlement at Tioga Point. Ebenezer Ellis settled on the river four miles above the Point, Enoch War- ner just above the second Narrows, and John Squiers on the oppo- side side of the river. Abner Wells located himself at the place now called Wellsburgh. Higher up the river, Abraham Miller, afterwards first judge of the county, Mr. Culvier, a congregational minister, Rufus Baldwin, Judge Caleb Baker, Lebbeus Hammond, Esq., John Goff, a Baptist minister, and some others. These settle- ments were made as early as the year 1796. In 1788 Col. John Hendy located his family two or three miles above the site of the present village of Elmira. He was the first settler in the place ; originally from New England, afterwards a resident at Wyoming-but im- mediately from Tioga Point. The next person who settled in the immediate vicinity of Elmira, was John Miller, afterwards First Judge of the county of Tioga. The settlements from this period progressed rapidly, extended back from the rivers, and at this day the inhabitants fill the land.
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CHAPTER VI.
Difficulties attending the compilation of a Religious History. Different character of different Settlements. Organization of a Church in Sherburne. Labors of Mission- aries. Dr. Williston located at Patterson's Settlement. Revival. Organization of a Church or House of Worship at Union, and Reformed Dutch Church. Rev. Mr. Palmer : Rev. Mr. Manly. Church organized at Owego and Jericho. Rev. Joel Chapin. Church organized in South Bainbridge, in Newark Valley, in Coventry. Rev. Joseph Wood : Rev. David Harrowar : Rev. William Stone: Rev. Joel T. Benedict : Rev. Seth Sage. Character of the Ministers and Churches in the Che- nango County. The Susquehannah Association Organization of two Churches in Sherburne. Rev. Joshua Knight: Rev. Roger Adams. Settlement of Oxford : Church organized at Oxford : at Cazenovia. Rev. Joshua Leonard. Church of Candor. Newtown. Dr. Amos Parks. Influence of the Revival of 1799. Exer- tions of Infidelity. Rev. John Camp.
WE shall now endeavor to lay before the reader something of the religious history of that part of Western New York to which the preceding chapter refers. And here we find ourselves, to a very great extent, encompassed with obscurity. The civil history of a comparatively new country is to be found in the archives of the State; in printed or written documents authenticated in the surest manner ; in the Statute Laws, and in the records of counties and towns. But the religious history is mostly unwritten. The number of truly pious persons among the first settlers of a new country, is in general comparatively small, and in the lapse of fifty or sixty years very few of them remain to relate the transactions of their early years, and tell what the Lord did for them in the wilderness. Thus the memory of past events is irrecoverably lost. Our narration must therefore, of necessity, be very imperfect. In those settlements which were principally made by emigrants from the New England States, morality and a regard for the institutions of religion were prevalent traits. The Sabbath was generally regarded with respect ; public worship commenced at an early period, and opportunities to hear a preached Gospel, whether upon the Sabbath or on other days, were eagerly embraced. A corres- pondent of the writer in one of the settlements of that description, remarks that the early settlers were very punctual in their habits of attendance on public worship, coming, some on horseback, some in ox-carts, and some on foot. But in many places, especially on the navigable rivers, the population was of a less homogeneous character, consisting of individuals from very different parts of the United States, with foreigners from Europe. Some places were notorious for their immoral habits, contempt and neglect of reli- gious institutions, prevalence of universalism, or open infidelity. Missionaries found small congregations when they visited the
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people, and their labors seemed to a great extent without fruit. Some of these places remained for a long period without religious culture, and without public observance of divine worship.
At what period this part of Western New York began to be visited by missionaries, is not certainly known to the writer. In the month of July, 1794, a church was organized in Sherburne by Rev. Mr. Campbell, who is said to have been a missionary from Connecticut. The author does not find the name of any missionary appointed that year by the General Association of Connecticut, except that of Rev. Moses C. Walch, who entered upon his mission, but on account of sickness was unable to perform but a part of the service intended. It is not stated where his field of labor was situated. The next year, 1795, and the succeeding year, 1796, a number of missionaries to the new settlements, for periods of dif- ferent duration, were commissioned by the General Association. It is stated that they fulfilled their appointments with diligence and success. Of one of these missionaries, Rev. Ammi R. Robbins, it is stated that on his mission of forty days he preached forty-two times, besides the other ministerial offices which he performed. Concerning these missionaries, the fields on which their labors were expended were not designated. The greater part of them, it is believed, were employed upon what were at that period denomi- nated the new settlements in the State of New York, whither the tide of emigration from Connecticut was pouring. It is hardly to be doubted that some of them reached the field which we are con- templating. What missionaries were employed in 1797, and the former part of the year 1798, is unknown to the writer. In the autumn of 1798, Rev. Walter King performed a missionary tour of about two months in the counties of Chenango and Tioga. He remarks in his report, " While I have been a preacher, never did I enjoy a season in so short a time, of so much Christian satisfaction, or of so high a probability of being really useful to the souls of men." Occasionally, during the latter part of this year and the succeeding one, Dr. Williston visited some of the places within this field, on his missionary tour. Mr. Salmon King, a licensed preacher of the Gospel, spent the latter part of the year 1799 under a com- mission from the Missionary Society of Connecticut, in missionary labor in the western part of New York. Without doubt a portion of his time was occupied in this field. In the year 1800, the mis- sionaries employed by this Society who expended some labor on this field, were Dr. Williston, Mr. Bushnell, Mr. Amasa Jerome, a licentiate preacher, and Mr. Josiah B. Andrews, also a licentiate preacher of the Gospel. In 1801, Mr. Hezekiah May, a licentiate preacher, and Rev. David Higgins, all visited this field as mission- aries in the service of the Missionary Society of Connecticut. This year, in the month of May, Dr. Williston went to the town of Lisle, in the county of Tioga (now Broome), to take the pastoral charge of the church in that place, and spend three-fourths of his
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time with that congregation, and labor as a missionary the remain- ing fourth. For several succeeding years he was employed in this manner, laboring as a missionary one-fourth of the time, in the service of the Connecticut Society. His missionary excursions were extended so as to include the counties of Tioga, Cayuga, Onondaga, Chenango, and Broome, together with Luzerne in the State of Pennsylvania.
In the year 1798, this field of missionary effort was visited by Rev. Beriah Hotchkin and Rev. Joseph Badger, missionaries in the service of the Berkshire and Columbia Missionary Society. They did not, however, continue for any considerable length of time upon it, but passed on further. This field was probably visited by other missionaries, in the service of the same society, during the two or three succeeding years ; but the documents to which the writer has had access are too indefinite to determine with much certainty. In the year 1800 the operations of the Massachusetts Missionary Society commenced, and two missionaries, Rev. David Avery and Rev. Jacob Cram, were sent to Western New York, and spent some time in their employment. But whether they visited this por- tion of the field, is not ascertained.
The missionaries of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church were undoubtedly the first to visit this region. At the meeting of the Assembly in May, 1790, Rev. Nathan Ker and Rev. Joshua Hart were appointed missionaries on the frontier settlements of New York and Pennsylvania, for at least three months. Among the places visited by them are mentioned, Newtown (now Elmira), Unadilla, Chenango (now Binghampton), and Owego. Several missionaries were appointed in the next four years succeeding. Some of them probably visited and expended some labor on this field. In 1795 a number of missionaries were appointed, but their fields of labor are not designated. Rev. Daniel Thatcher, who was one of them, is known to have visited some part of this field. He organized a Presbyterian church at Newtown. Probably some of the others extended their missions on to this region. The next year Mr. Thatcher was appointed a missionary for the term of one year, to pursue the route prescribed to him the previous year. This appointment he fulfilled. For the year 1797 it does not ap- pear that any missionaries were appointed. In the several suc- ceeding years to 1801, a number of missionaries were engaged for different periods in each year, and whose fields of labor would em- brace this territory. The inhabitants of this part of Western New York must have received a considerable amount of ministerial aid through the labors of the missionaries sent to them by different missionary associations. It was, however, but a substitute for a better order of things. Many places, especially where the popula- tion was very sparse, or the location not contiguous to a general rout of travel, were liable to be almost entirely overlooked. And
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in no place could the itinerant missionary tarry long enough to pro- duce any permanent impression, or engage in any systematic course of operation.
The first minister of the gospel of the Congregational order, as far as is known to the writer, who came into the Chenango country for a permanent residence, was Rev. Seth Williston, who is still living, and pretty extensively known to the religious public as Dr. Williston of Durham (N. Y.). He was a graduate of Dartmouth College, having received his first degree in the year 1791. He was a native of the State of Connecticut, and received a license to preach the gospel in 1794, probably from the North Association of Hartford, in his native State. Mr. Williston came into the Chenango country in the month of July, 1796, and located himself in what was then called Patterson's Settlement, in the town of Union (now Lisle), at the junction of the Otselic Creek with the Onondaga, then denominated the "Second Forks of the Chenango." In this settlement he commenced preaching the gospel of salvation to his dying fellow-men. Mr. Williston, at this period, was only a licensed preacher of the gospel, not having yet received ordination. But God owned and blessed his labor. The Spirit attended the word preached, and made it "the wisdom of God and the power of God unto salvation " to some souls in that place. A notice of this early revival, together with some interesting information re- specting the religious state of the region at that period, is contained in a letter, published in the Theological Magazine for 1796. This was a work, edited and published in the city of New York, by Cornelius Davis. The letter was from Mr. Williston, and was addressed to the editor of the Magazine. It is dated, "Settlement at the Second Forks of the Chenango, Nov. 25th, 1796."
The writer of the letter says, " I have been in this wilderness about four months. I found a few of the Lord's people here. It was a matter of joy to them to have the Gospel preached among them. For several weeks past there has appeared a more than common solemnity upon the minds of some. Of late that solemnity has evi- dently increased. The friends of Jesus are evidently stirred up to greater prayerfulness than common. Their hopes are excited, that they are about to see this wilderness spiritually, as well as naturally, blossom like the rose. There are several instances of the power of grace, which have already taken place among us. Several others begin to see themselves to be in a very dangerous and guilty state. Numbers are seriously impressed, and begin to think about the things of another world. Matters at present look hopeful among us. God forbid that it should prove like a morning cloud which soon passes away. Let us not despise the day of small things, but bless God for every drop of such precious mercies. Such a blessing appears more precious in this desert, where there are no churches yet formed, and, in general, but little regard paid
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to holy days and holy things. I hear from the mouth of the Una- dilla, by a respectable person who belongs to that settlement, that there is some special religious attention there." Another letter from the same to the same, dated May 27th, 1797, says : " I left Chenango the beginning of this month, and expect to return there towards the close of the next. The revival of religion, of which I gave you some account, last November, continued to wear a pleasing aspect when I left Chenango. We had an agreeable winter. We witnessed repeated instances of hopeful conversion. The work has really had the appearance of a genuine work of the Spirit of God. I have no doubt that some will eternally point back to this as the season of their new birth. We hope to see still greater things in that remote corner of the earth."
This second letter was dated from Connecticut, whither Mr. Wil- liston had gone to visit his friends, and to receive ordination as an evangelist, that he might return to the wilderness with more en- larged capacity to promote the interests of the Redeemer's king- dom. In the month of June, 1797, he received ordination as an evangelist, from the hands of the North Association of Hartford county, and soon after returned to his previous field of labor. As to the extent of the revival mentioned above, the writer has no de- finite information. It, however, prepared the way for the organiza- tion of a church, which took place, Dr. Williston says, near the close of 1797, or in the beginning of 1798. After Mr. Williston's return from Connecticut, he did not confine his labors wholly to the congregation at Patterson's settlement. In a letter to the author, he observes : " The second year of my labors in this part of the State, though I was not yet a missionary, I extended my ministry through all parts of the town of Union, which then comprised a considerable part of what now makes up the counties of Broome and Tioga ; I went to Homer, Locke, Scipio, and Milton (as Genoa was then called)." Dr. Williston received an appointment as a mis- sionary, from the Missionary Society of Connecticut, immediately on the organization of that Society, in the year 1798. His first la- bors as a missionary were expended upon the Military Tract ; af- terwards, as has been narrated in a preceding chapter, upon the Genesee country. In the year 1801, Dr. Williston became sta- tionary at Lisle, and was installed pastor of the church in that place. From this period till 1809, he continued to minister to the congre- gation of Lisle, spending, however, a part of his time in missionary labor, in the destitute places in the region around him. Towards the close of 1809, he resigned his pastoral charge, and removed from Western New York.
In a letter to the author, Dr. Williston says: "In the town of Union, on the banks of the Susquehannah, a little above the mouth of the Nanticoke, there was then at my first coming, a small build- ing which I believe was put up by the Dutch people in that vicinity
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as a house of worship, but it had none of the external appearances of a sanctuary. I believe it was the only house devoted to the worship of God, west of Kortright in Delaware county. A Mr. Palmer of the Reformed Dutch Church, ministered at that time in this house." It is believed that there was an organized church con- nected with this house at that period, but the precise time of its organization is not known. This church was merged into the Presbyterian church of Union in 1822, having become greatly di- minished, in consequence of deaths and removals among its mem- bers. A church of the same denomination was organized at Che- nango Point (Binghamton), in 1798, through the labors of Rev. Mr. Manly, who belonged to the Reformed Dutch Church. The place of meeting for this congregation was the attic story of the dwelling- house occupied by Mr. Manly, as the residence for his family. This place was fitted up with some degree of convenience for a place of worship, and was occupied as such for a considerable period. The building stood about a mile above the village of Bing- hamton, on the east bank of the Chenango river. It has since been occupied as a barn. In these two churches Mr. Manly labored for some time, preaching alternately in each. After his departure, they were for some time destitute of preaching ; but, eventually, were again supplied by Rev. Mr. Palmer, under whose labors the churches were resuscitated, and somewhat enlarged. What length of time Mr. Palmer continued with these churches is not known to the writer, nor whether his labors were terminated by death or re- moval. The Dutch church at Binghamton held, at least, a nominal existence until the organization of the Congregational church in 1818, when it became merged in that church. Previous to this event, a number of the members of the church had removed to distant parts, and the church was reduced to a very small number of members.
With the exception of the two Reformed Dutch churches above mentioned, the earliest church organizations to which this work has reference, were of the Congregational denomination. The inhabit- ants were mostly emigrants from the States of Connecticut and Massachusetts, where the churches generally were of that order. Their first ministers were from the same region, and were con- nected with Congregational organizations. Mention has been made of the organization of a church at the Great Bend of the Susque- hannah river, in 1789, and of the ordination and installation of Rev. Daniel Buck, as pastor of the church. Though the residence of Mr. Buck was within the limits of Pennsylvania, yet being on its very border, it is believed that his labors in a very considerable degree were expended upon the settlements in the State of New York, adjacent to his residence. On the fifteenth day of August, 1793, a church was organized at Oquago (now Windsor), by Rev. Benja- min Judd, then a missionary under the appointment of the General
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Assembly of the Presbyterian church, with the assistance of Rev. Daniel Buck. This church, at its organization, consisted of seven members. Some of the old inhabitants of Windsor say that Rev. Mr. Bush was the first missionary who visited that place after its settlement by white people. If there was a missionary of that name at that early period, the writer has not been able to obtain any information concerning him. The next organization of a church was probably that of Lisle, of which mention has already been made. The precise period of the organization of the church of Jericho (now North Bainbridge), is not known to the writer. It probably took place soon after the organization of the church of Lisle. In this congregation Rev. Joel Chapin labored for some time. Then he was ordained to the ministerial office, and at the same time, as the writer believes, installed pastor of the church. With respect to the period when this event took place, Dr. Williston, in a letter to the author, says, "I cannot inform you with certainty when Rev. Joel Chapin came to Jericho, I was present at his ordi- nation. The Rev. Mr. Badger preached the sermon, I believe it was as early as 1799." The Mr. Badger here mentioned, is sup- posed to have been Rev. Joseph Badger of Blanford (Mass.). In the summer and autumn of 1798 he performed a mission of 90 days' continuance in this region of country, under a commission from the Berkshire and Columbia Missionary Society. He was not in the service of that Society at any subsequent period ; but went as a missionary to the State of Ohio, in the employ of the Connecticut Missionary Society. This would seem to fix the date of the or- dination of Mr. Chapin to the year 1798. This was, undoubtedly, the first ordination of a Congregational minister that ever occurred in the region which in this work is denominated Western New York ; and no ordination in the Presbyterian denomination occurred till some years afterwards. What length of time Mr. Chapin had preached at Jericho previous to his ordination is not known to the writer ; nor has he been able to ascertain how long he continued to minister statedly to that congregation subsequent to his ordination. Dr. Williston says of him: "Mr. Chapin was my classmate in Dartmouth College; he graduated in 1791, at the age of thirty years. He had served in the army in the war of the Revolution. He had entered the service of Christ before he entered college. Ill health retarded his entrance into the ministerial work; it also shortened the time of his active labors in preaching the gospel. But I believe he did good by a holy example as long as he lived. I think he died in 1845." Mr. Chapin, it is believed, was peculiarly distinguished as a man of fervent piety, and as a peace-maker in the church of Christ. For more than twenty of the last years of his life he resided in the State of Pennsylvania ; was at first a member of the Presbytery of Susquehannah, and on the division of that Presbytery, was set off to the Presbytery of Montrose, with
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which he continued in connexion till the time of his decease. Not- withstanding his many infirmities of body and extreme deafness during his last years, his life was prolonged to an advanced period ; but he has gone, as we believe, to the rest of the heavenly state ; and his "record is on high." A correspondent speaks of him, as " eminently useful in transacting ecclesiastical business, and in re- conciling difficulties among brethren."
A church in South Bainbridge was organized, in 1802, by Rev. Daniel Buck. It was composed of members from the North church, or church of Jericho. Its history is not known to the writer, except that it has become extinct, leaving a large house of worship, which is now unoccupied except when occasionally used by the Universalists, or for a funeral occasion. The church of Newark Valley, originally denominated Brown's Settlement, was organized Nov. 17, 1803, by Rev. Seth Williston and Rev. James W. Woodward, missionaries from the Connecticut Missionary Society. It consisted at its organization of six members, of whom four were males and two females. On the Sabbath succeeding its organization, four members were added to the original number. This church has been a prosperous church down to the present time. In 1807, a church was organized in Coventry by Rev. David Harrowar, then residing in the county of Delaware. This church at its organization consisted of fourteen members, all of whom had been previously connected with some evangelical church. The next year a revival took place, which added twenty-four members to the church. The same year Rev. Joseph Wood commenced laboring with this congregation, and continued his ministry with them during the two succeeding years. With the history of Mr. Wood the writer is very imperfectly acquainted. Whether the commencement of his labors in Coventry was the commencement of his residence and preaching in Western New York is not known. On the sixth of March, 1816, he was installed pastor of the two ' churches in the town of Windsor, but his health having failed, he was dismissed from his pastoral charge, Sept. 19th, 1819, though he continued to officiate as moderator in the business meetings of the churches until the year 1826. During a number of the last years of his life he resided in Pennsylvania, and became a member of the Presbytery of Susquehannah, and, on the division of that Presbytery, became a member of the Presbytery of Montrose. He was esteemed as a good man, but, on account of ill health, it is believed, was unable, during many years, to preach much. He died, as the writer believes, in 1836, or the succeeding year.
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