USA > New York > Westchester County > Rye > Chronicle of a border town : history of Rye, Westchester county, New York, 1660-1870, including Harrison and the White Plains till 1788 > Part 38
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The Friends in Harrison, though not so numerous, probably, as they were a hundred years ago, are still a highly respectable and 1 Records of the Society in Harrison.
365
THE OLD MEETING-HOUSE.
influential community. They have the characteristic traits of this peaceable and quiet people : frugality, simplicity of manners, strict- ness of morals, care for their poor, and abhorrence of oppression in every form. Of the faithful and noble testimony which they bore against slavery, we have spoken in a former chapter. Many of their families who brought this faith with them into this region, a century and a half since, have removed from the Purchase, and their lands are now owned by persons of other religious persua- sions. But a number remain ; and the Old Meeting-house itself abides, substantial and unadorned, as when first reared amid the primeval forest, having witnessed the turmoil and suffering of war, as well as the silent worship of a religion of peace. Near by is the graveyard, where the founders of the community and several generations of their descendants rest.
CHAPTER XLII.
CHURCHES OF PORT CHESTER.
THE village of Saw Pit, during the first quarter of the present century, was noted for its religious destitution. There were no churches in the place, and few of the inhabitants resorted habitually either to Rye or to Greenwich for public worship. In the absence of the educating and restraining influences of religion, immorality was rife. Idleness and intemperance, with their attend- ant evils, prevailed, it is said, even more widely than in other obscure and neglected localities around.
During this period, some efforts were made by the neighboring churches to improve the condition of things in Saw Pit. Religious services were held from time to time in the district school-house, which stood on King Street, and was afterwards removed to the triangular plot of ground near the present railroad arch. These services were generally conducted by Baptist and Methodist minis- ters. The former came from the
King Street Baptist Church, about three miles from the village. This congregation existed some years before the Revolution. The church was constituted in 1773, with a membership of fifty-four. It was supplied for a period of about eleven years by ministers from Tarrytown, Danbury, Long Island, and New York. After this, the Rev. Nathaniel Finch was settled as pastor, and continued in office until the year 1826.1 ' Elder Finch,' as he was called, preached occasionally in the school-house at Saw Pit, where some members of his congregation resided.
A Methodist Society existed in Saw Pit as early as 1821, when this place had become one of the 'appointments' of the New Rochelle Circuit. It was visited in turn, among the twelve local- ities embraced in the circuit, by two preachers, to whom a third was soon after added.
1 Mr. Fineh died August 29th, 1829, in the eighty-fifth year of his age. He was followed by Rev. E. S. Raymond, who became pastor of the King Street Baptist Church in 1826, and remained until 1836. Rev. Mr. Brewer succeeded him from 1836 to 1840. In 1841, Mr. Raymond resumed his former charge, and continued until 1862. Rev. O. C. Kirkham preached for some months ; since then the congre- gation has had no settled pastor.
367
THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
About the year 1824, services were also held here by the rector of the Episcopal congregation of Rye. The Vestry records show that 'on the third Sabbath afternoon ' of the month, Rev. Mr. Thompson was accustomed at that time to officiate ' in the School- house at the Saw-Pitt.' This arrangement, however, does not appear to have continued long.
Other denominations, too, sometimes occupied the building. Universalist ministers not unfrequently visited the place, and zeal- ously advocated their doctrines. Some of these were men of ability, and met, it is said, with considerable success in their en- deavors to gain disciples.
The PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH was the first house of worship built in what is now the village of Port Chester. Simultaneously with the effort to revive a Presbyterian organization at Rye, where a flourishing congregation of this order had once existed, and a church was yet standing, religious services were commenced at Saw Pit. On the seventh of December, 1828, Rev. George Steb- bins, of New Rochelle, preached in both places. On the next Sunday, Rev. Noah C. Saxton commenced his labors at Rve and at Saw Pit, where he preached occasionally through the winter ; and in the following spring, stated services were commenced, which were sustained from that time without interruption. Mr. Saxton was followed at Saw Pit by Mr. Lyman, and in May, 1829, by Rev. Williams H. Whittemore, who then began his ministry in Rye. Mr. Whittemore and three of his successors preached at Rye every Sabbath morning, and at Saw Pit every Sabbath after- noon. Some families belonging to the former congregation at- tended the afternoon service also, and by their efforts a Sunday- school was started, the first ever established here. Mr. Ebenezer Clark, to whose zeal and liberality the congregation at Rye owed so much, was equally active in the promotion of this enterprise. Though in frail health, he was a constant attendant upon the ser- vices, and furnished the greater part of the means required to sus- tain them.
Soon after Mr. Whittemore's arrival, the present Presbyterian Church at Port Chester was built. On Wednesday, May 26th, 1830, the frame of the edifice was raised upon a plot of ground which had been given for this purpose by Mr. George Adee. Only the basement of the church, however, was occupied at first. The upper part, though enclosed, remained unfinished for some time. The lower portion was dedicated as a place of worship on
368
CHURCHES OF PORT CHESTER.
the nineteenth of December, 1830, the Rev. Joel Mann, of Green- wich, preaching. The church was completed and dedicated in September, 1833 ; the sermon on the occasion was by Rev. Dr. Spencer of Brooklyn.1
The labors of Mr. Whittemore, and his little band of helpers, at Saw Pit, met with much encouragement. The winter of 1830, when the newly-formed congregation worshipped in the humble basement room of their unfinished church, is especially remem- bered, as a season of deep religious interest, both there and at Rye. A number of persons were led to begin a Christian life ; some of whom united with this church, whilst others connected themselves with other religious bodies.
Mr. Whittemore was followed, at Rye and Saw Pit, by the Rev. David Remington, whose ministry commenced in April, 1832, and was terminated January 24th, 1834, by his sudden death. Rev. Thomas Payne succeeded him, from 1834 to 1836 : and Rev. James R. Davenport was pastor from October 13th, 1836, to April, 1838. In July, 1838, the Rev. Edward D. Bryan commenced his labors at Rye. The service at Port Chester, which had hitherto been held in the afternoon, was now trans- ferred to the morning, and an evening service was also maintained. Mr. Bryan resided for several years at Port Chester, as one or two of his predecessors had done, and no small part of his time was devoted to this field. ' In 1839, a season of spiritual refresh- ing was enjoyed, which resulted in the addition of ten persons to the Church.'
The congregations of Rye and Port Chester remained united for a period of twenty-three years. In 1852 it was found expedi- ent to dissolve this connection, and organize a distinct church at Port Chester. This was done on the fourth of August in that year, by the Presbytery of Bedford. The new church was constituted with forty-one members, all of whom had, until then, been con- nected with the church of Rye ; and with one elder, Mr. Ephraim Sours, Rev. Henry Benedict,2 the first pastor, began his labors in
1 Records of the Presbyterian Church of Rye. The building cost about two thou- sand one hundred dollars.
2 Rev. HENRY BENEDICT was born in Norwalk, Conn., January 22d, 1796. ' His early years were spent at Norwalk. After preparatory study at Phillips' Academy, Andover, Mass., he entered Yale College, and pursuing the usual course, graduated in 1822. The year following he taught school in Virginia. Although for some years in feeble health, he determined to devote himself to the ministry, and pursued a theo- logical course under private instruction. He commenced the work of the ministry at Waterbury, Conn., in 1826. The following year he preached in Galway, where he received a cordial request from the Congregational Church in Norwalk, Conn., to
369
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
June, 1853, and was installed October 9th, 1854. He resigned his charge April 22d, 1863, and was succeeded by the Rev. Val- entine A. Lewis, ordained and installed November 1st, 1864. His pastorate ended in October, 1867, and the Rev. Ezra F. Mundy, the present pastor, was installed' March 9th, 1868.
The METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH of Port Chester was built about the year 1831. Its erection had been contemplated for several preceding years. The Quarterly Conference, held at ' Rye Meeting House,' September 15th, 1827, ' approved of the people at the Saw-pits using their exertions to build a church in said village ; ' and appointed David Miller, Daniel Haight, and Elisha Halsted ' a committee to make an estimate of the cost of said building.' It was at the same time recommended ' to the people of the circuit, to contribute to the erection of said church.' Similar resolutions were passed at the meeting of the Quarterly Conference in New Rochelle, Jannary 3d, 1829, when David Mil- ler, William Anderson, and Horace Smith were appointed a com- mittee to estimate the cost of building.1 The district school-house, however, continued to be used as a place of worship until the period mentioned, when a small church was erected upon the site of the present edifice. Here the ministers of the circuit preached at stated times until the year 1847, when the congregation be- came a separate charge. The handsome and spacious church in which it now worships was dedicated on Sunday, August 15th, 1858, Bishop Janes officiating. It was erected at a cost of about ten thousand dollars. In 1864 this church took the name of become their pastor. Accepting the invitation, he was installed August 12th, 1828, and continued there four years, amid scenes of great religious interest and fruitful- ness. Impaired health compelled him to resign his charge and visit the South. On his return he labored a short time in the church at Somers, in 1833. In October of that year he accepted a call from Lansingburgh, where he remained two years ; after which, declining permanent engagements, he preached (1836, 1837) at Covington, Ky., where he founded a church ; afterwards (1838) at Stillwater ; then at the Broad- way Tabernacle, New York ; also, at the Bowery Church (1839). Leaving New York, he accepted a call from the Congregational Church, Westport, Conn. (1840), and remained there twelve years. Resigning this charge, he spent about a year in Europe (1852), and on his return was settled over the Presbyterian Church at Port Chester, where he continued until 1863, when advancing years induced him to lay aside his duties as pastor. He continued to reside at Port Chester, ministering occa- sionally there, and in neighboring churches, until his decease, which occurred at Sara- toga Springs, July 18, 1868. The foregoing is a brief record of a useful life, held in grateful remembrance in many households where the fragrance of his loving words and deeds still lingers.' (The Genealogy of the Benedicts in America. By Henry Marvin Benedict. Albany, 1870 : pp. 124, 125.)
1 Communicated by Rev. N. Mead.
24
370
CHURCHES OF PORT CHESTER.
' Summerfield Church,' 'from regard for the memory of the sainted John Summerfield, two of whose surviving sisters are members of this charge, - Mrs. James Blackstock, and Miss Sum- merfield. Mrs. Blackstock gave liberally toward the payment of the cost of erection, and still continues the generous patron of the church.' Rev. Samuel H. Smith is the present pastor.1
The King Street Methodist Episcopal Church was built about the same time with that of Saw Pit, though it would appear that the project of its erection was entertained much earlier. At a Quarterly Conference held at New Rochelle, December 27th, 1823, E. Halsted, D. Kirby, and D. H. Mead were 'appointed a committee to consider the propriety of building a church at King Street.' 2 This locality had been one of the appointments of the New Rochelle Circuit for several years.
PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. In December, 1836, the Rev. P. S. Chauncey commenced to officiate in this village. He had just before relinquished the charge of St. Thomas' Church, Mamaroneck, which he had held till then conjointly with that of Christ Church, Rye. 'Mr. Chauncey held services sometimes in the old school-house at the foot of King street hill ; sometimes in the Methodist church : and finally in a building now known as Armonck Hall, then called Burger's Chapel.' 3
The corner-stone of the present church was laid on the twenty- fifth of July, 1843, Bishop Onderdonk officiating. The land was given by the late William Adee. The building was completed at a cost of about six thousand dollars, and on Monday, July 15th, 1844, it was consecrated by Bishop Onderdonk, as 'St. Peter's Chapel in connection with Christ Church, Rye,' and under the pastoral charge of the rector of the parish. Mr. Chauncey con- tinued to perform the duties of this part of his charge until Janu- ary 30th, 1848, when he resigned the rectorship of Rye. During the ministry of the Rev. Edward C. Bull, who succeeded him, steps were taken to form a distinct parish at Port Chester, and on the twelfth of April, 1852, proceedings were instituted to incor- porate St. Peter's Church. The Rev. Isaac Peck was called, May 24th, 1852, as rector ; he accepted, and entered upon his duties in
1 The following have been the ministers in charge since the year 1847 : Rev. Messrs. W. B. Hoyt, J. A. Edmonds, Justus O. North, Wm. F. Smith, -. Cotant, William Porteus, G. S. Gilbert, Otis Saxton, C. T. Mallory, W. F. Hatfield, C. B. Ford, S. H. Smith.
2 Rev. N. Mead.
8 Article in the Eastern State Journal, White Plains, March 2, 1860.
371
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.
August. The following summer, the church was enlarged by an addition at the east end. Mr. Peck resigned, June 7th, 1858, and was followed by the Rev. George C. Pennell, rector from July 2d, 1858, till August, 1859. His successor, the Rev. Samuel Hollingsworth, entered upon his duties on the fifth of February, 1860. Dr. Hollingsworth is the present rector.
The rectory of St. Peter's Church was built in 1860; the ground, two acres and three eighths, was given by Read Peck, Esq.
The BAPTIST CHURCH of Port Chester was dedicated on the second of February, 1865. Its pastors have been Rev. E. S. Ray- mond, Dr. Byrne, Lawson Stewart, Jonathan Bastow, and A. C. Ferguson.
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. In 1834 the few Roman Catho- lics of this locality congregated for the first time, for religious pur- poses, in a private house. This they continued to do for several years, visited occasionally by priests from Harlem, Westchester, and New Rochelle. About the year 1846, they purchased a small frame building on Main Street, which they used as a church, until 1852, when the Rev. E. J. O'Reilly became pastor of Port Chester and the adjoining missions -New Rochelle, Mamaroneck, and White Plains. After residing here a few months, he removed to New Rochelle, where he remained until 1853, retaining charge of the above places. In 1852 the old church, which had become too small, was sold, a new site was bought, and the present church - named ' Our Lady of Mercy ' - was built upon it. Rev. E. J. O'Reilly was succeeded in 1853 by Rev. Thomas McLoughlin, who remained for one year. In 1854, Rev. Matthew Dowling, the present pastor, was appointed. Connected with this church there is a school for boys and one for girls, and a convent, occupied by the Sisters of Charity who have charge of the female depart- ment.1
1 The Roman Catholic Cemetery on Ridge Street was purchased in IS63. It com- prises ten acres of land.
CHAPTER XLIII.
LATER TOWN HISTORY : RYE.
TN the year 1788 the town of Rye was reduced to its present size, by an act of the legislature of New York, constituting three towns within the territory previously covered by this. The act provided -
' That all that part of the county of Westchester, bounded easterly by Mamaroneck-River, northerly by North-Castle, westerly by Bronx- River, and southerly by the town of Scarsdale, shall be, and hereby is erected into a town by the name of White-Plains.
' And that all that part of the said county of Westchester called and known by the name of Harrison's-Purchase, shall be, and hereby is erected into a town by the name of Harrison.
' And that all that part of the said county of Westchester, bounded southerly by the Sound, easterly by Connecticut, and westerly by the town of Harrison and Mamaroneck-River, including Captain's-Island, and all the islands in the Sound lying south of the said bounds, shall be, and hereby is erected into a town by the name of Rye.' 1
For some years after the beginning of this century, there were persons still living in Rye who had taken an active part in the stir- ring events of the Revolution. A few of these were veteran soldiers of the Continental army. Others there were who had served more humbly but perhaps as usefully in the warfare carried on along the shores of the Sound and across its waters. Several too were at least suspected of having been engaged less creditably in the system of spoliation of which this Debatable Ground had been the scene during the war, as Skinners, or Cow Boys ; an in- timation not seldom heard in the purlieus of the taverns, and most likely to find expression amidst the excitement of an election, at the polls. Scarcely a family lived in the town of which some member had not been a witness and a sufferer in the perils and privations of those trying times.
1 Laws of the State of New York, comprising the Constitution, and the Acts of the Legis- lature, since the Revolution, from the First to the Fifteenth Session, inclusive. In two vol- nmes. New York : printed by Thomas Greenleaf, M,DCC, XC,II. : vol. ii. pp. 153, 154.
373
POPULATION AT DIFFERENT PERIODS.
General Thomas Thomas was the most noted character among the survivors of the Revolutionary struggle here. His seat at ' Rye Woods,' now lay within the newly formed town of Harrison. But his influence in this community was considerable. He died in 1824, at the age of seventy-nine. Robert Kennedy was an- other person of mark in that day. He and General Thomas are said to have been inseparable friends and boon companions. He died at the age of seventy, in 1826.
In point of population, the town remained nearly stationary for a long series of years. At the close of the last century it con- tained nine hundred and eighty-six inhabitants, of whom one hun- dred and fifty-four were qualified electors, and one hundred and twenty-three were slaves.1 In 1810, the population was twelve hundred and seventy-eight, of whom two hundred and twenty-five were subject to taxation. The taxable property of the town was then valued at $319,871. In 1820, the population had only in- creased to thirteen hundred and forty-two; and the taxable prop- erty was valued at $444,619. At that time - fifty years ago - there were in the town of Rye one hundred and seventy-seven persons employed in agriculture, eighty persons employed in manufactures, and thirty-five engaged in commerce. There were but eight 'foreigners not naturalized.' There were one hundred and twenty-six ' free blacks,' and fourteen slaves. The electors numbered two hundred and eighty-three. The town contained five thousand eight hundred and ninety-two acres of improved land, nine hundred and eighty-one cattle, two hundred and three horses, and three hundred and ninety-four sheep. There were six grist-mills and one saw-mill in Rye; and during the year mentioned, 12,939 yards of cloth were manufactured in the town.2
' Rye borders upon Mamaroneck, eastward,' observes Dr. Dwight, in 1811 ; ' and has a much handsomer surface, and a still better soil. On an elevation not far from its western limit, stands the mansion-house of the late Mr. Jay, father of the Hon. John Jay. It is now the property of Mr. Peter Jay, the youngest son
of the original proprietor. . . . There are two villages' in this town, 'one of which is customarily called Rye ; consisting of per- haps twenty houses, built on the border of a small mill-stream.' 3
1 Dr. Jedidiah Morse's American Gazetteer, 2d edition, Boston, 1798.
2 A Gazetteer of the State of New York, by II. G. Spafford, LL. D. Albany, 1813. The same : Albany, 1824.
3 Travels in New England and New York, ete., vol. iii. pp. 487, 489. Peter Jay was the fourth - not the youngest - son.
374
LATER TOWN HISTORY : RYE.
In 1815 or 1816, Rye was visited by Joseph Bonaparte, ex-King of Spain, who was then in search of a suitable place for his future residence in America. It is said that for a time he entertained the purpose of making his home here. The account runs that ' Bona- parte on his arrival in this country was desirous of establishing himself somewhere on the western shore of Long Island Sound ; and that the locations which pleased him most were " Theall's Hill " 1 [at Rye] and Hunter's Island. He was unable however to obtain the amount of land in one body, of sufficient area for a Park, in this vicinity ; while Mr. Hunter refused the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, which the ex-king offered him.' 2
The facilities of communication with the city by steamboat afforded between the years 1820 and 1830, opened a new era in the history of the place. A ' considerable improvement in its moral and material aspect ' was now seen. 'A higher tone of manners and morals, more of the spirit of inquiry, more of move- ment and energy,' were observed. Property rose in value ; and even as early as 1825, there were schemes for disposing of land, 'in building lots,' at high prices, which foreshadowed the vaster operations of like character in our own day. Rye became, about this time, the home of several intelligent and enterprising men, whose exertions and personal influence greatly promoted the prog- ress of things in the town.
Thirty years ago, this was still a secluded village, separated by a journey of several hours from the stir and thrift of the city. ' The houses number about thirty-five or forty. The Boston mail passes through daily. A steamboat touches every week-day at Rye Port, to and from New York. The boats now running are the Nimrod, Capt. John Brooks, and the Croton, Capt. Charles Peck : Sloops (Milton and New York), the John Jay, Capt. Leander Bishop ; (Port Chester and New York), the Sarah Adee, Capt. Bird, and the New York, Capt. Gilbert Lyon. Rye is much resorted to in summer by citizens of New York. There is no reg- ular hotel, or place of entertainment. The post-office is kept by Daniel H. Mead, in the "Square House," - one of the oldest houses in the place - formerly owned by the Penfield family. It
1 The property owned until lately by Mr. Abraham Theall, on the post-road, about a mile below the village of Rye.
2 ' It was also mentioned,' adds my informant, who learned these facts from intelli- gent persons, ' that Bonaparte would have purchased the Island at Mr. Hunter's own price but for his fear that in the event of a foreign war his property would be exposed to the guns of a hostile fleet : hence he purchased the large tract of land at Borden- town which he improved and embellished as long as he continued to reside there.'
375
THE INSTITUTE.
stands on the post-road in the village, at the commencement of the Purchase road, near the 26 mile stone. - The population of the town of Rye [in 1841] is about one thousand eight hundred and twenty.' 1
A notable improvement in the schools of the place commenced . with the period of progress to which we have referred. The dis- trict school at Rye had not changed greatly, either in appearance or in grade of instruction. But some attempt was made, between the years 1820 and 1830, to establish an academy of a superior order. In 1831, Mr. Samuel H. Berrian took charge of this insti- tution. He had been associated in New York with the eminent grammarian Goold Brown, and came to Rye from the Livingston County High School, of which he was for a time Principal. Mr. Berrian taught first in a building on the post-road below the bridge, and afterwards in the 'Square House ' in the village. In 1834 he opened a boarding-school in the house which he had just erected north of the village. This school, known as the Chrestomathic Institute, was maintained with great success for a number of years.
The construction of the New Haven Railroad was an event of moment for our town, which now came into rapid communication with the city. This road was commenced in March, 1847, and completed in January, 1849. Before this, for several years, stages had been running from Mamaroneck to Williams' Bridge, where passengers were enabled to take the cars of the Harlem Railroad. But this mode of travel was scarcely more expeditious or conven- ient than that by steamboat from Rye Port.
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