USA > New York > Tioga County > Owego > Early Owego, N.Y.; some account of the early settlement of the village in Tioga County, N.Y., called Ah-wa-ga by the Indians, which name was corrupted by gradual evolution into Owago, Owego, Owegy and finally Owego > Part 38
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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
The pastors of the church since its organization have been as follows:
Rev. William Brown, 1816.
Rev. Ebenezer Doolittle, 1817.
Rev. Hiram G. Warner, 1818.
Rev. Horace Agard, 1822.
Rev. John D. Gilbert, 1823.
Rev. Chester V. Adgate, 1824.
Rev. Josiah Keyes, 1825-6.
Rev. Joseph Castle, 1827.
Rev. David A. Shepard, 1828-9.
Rev. John Griffing, 1830.
Rev. Sylvester Minier, 1831.
Rev. Morgan Sherman, 1832.
Rev. Marmaduke Pearce, 1833.
Rev. L. Mumford, 1834-5.
Rev. D. Holmes, Jr., 1836-7.
Revs. L. Hitchcock and John Grif- fing, 1838.
Revs. Robert Fox and John Griffing, 1839.
Rev. Robert Fox, 1840.
Rev. A. J. Crandall, 1841-2.
Rev. Freeman H. Stanton, 1843-44.
Rev. William Reddy, 1845.
Rev. William H. Pearne, 1846-7.
Rev. A. J. Dana, 1848-9.
Rev. Thomas H. Pearne, 1850.
Rev. J. M. Snyder, 1851.
Rev. George P. Porter, 1852-3.
Rev. George H. Blakeslee, 1854-5.
Rev. B. W. Gorham, 1856-7.
Rev. John J. Pearce, 1858.
Rev. George M. Peck, 1859.
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Rev. S. W. Weiss, 1860.
Rev. George P. Porter, 1861-2.
Rev. David A. Shepard, 1863.
Rev. F. R. Keyes, 1864.
Rev. William B. Westlake, 1865-7.
Rev. Henry E. Wheeler, 1868-70.
Rev. William Bixby, 1871-2.
Rev. James Q. Woodruff, 1873-5.
Rev. Almus D. Alexander, 1876-8.
Rev. B. W. Caswell, 1879-81.
Rev. G. W. Miller, 1882-3.
Rev. George Forsyth, 1884-6.
Rev. William M. Hiller, 1887-8.
Rev. Phineas R. Hawxhurst, 1889-91.
Rev. Justus F. Warner, 1892-4.
Rev. Moses D. Fuller, 1895-9.
Rev. William Edgar, 1900-1.
Rev. Haskell B. Benedict, 1901-3.
Rev. Athasa F. Chaffee, 1904-5.
Rev. John B. Cook, 1905-7.
Rev. Benjamin Copeland, 1907. ,
Rev. Louis D. Palmer, 1907-
Of these pastors thirteen have been presiding elders, as follows: Horace Agard, D. A. Shepard, Wm. Reddy, WV., H. Pearne, A. J. Dana, J. M. Sny- der, Geo. P. Porter, H. E. Wheeler, William Bixby, J. O. Woodruff, Geo. Forsyth, J. F. Warner, and M. D. Fuller.
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Two of the ablest of these clergy- men, and the most erratic, were Will- iam H. Pearne and George P. Porter. Mr. Pearne was in the ministry about fifty years. He was presiding elder of Owego district from 1852 to 1855. At one time he was pastor of the leading church in New Orleans, La. After the civil war he was provost marshal at Nashville, Tenn., and later pastor of the State street church and after- ward of the Clinton avenue church in Trenton, N. J., the most important church in the New Jersey conference. He died at Homer, N .Y., Nov. 17, 1890, aged 74 years.
Geo. P. Porter was born at Berwick, Pa., in 1720. In early life he was a civil
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engineer, and later a portrait painter. He was a pupil of John Sartain, of Philadelphia, who was famous as a mezzotint engraver. In 1843 he opened a studio at Towanda, Pa. He soon abandoned his work as a painter and entered the ministry. In 1848, he was assigned to the charge at Montrose and Great Bend, Pa. In 1851 he was pastor of the Court street church at Binghamton and the next two years he preached at Owego. Ile was sent to Waverly in 1854. He became in- temperate and the next year he lapsed into infidelity and withdrew from the membership . of the church. For a short time he was editor of the Wa- verly Advocate. In 1861 he again en- tered the ministry, and that year and in 1862 he was again pastor of the Owego church. From 1863 to 1866 he was presiding elder of the Owego dis- " trict and in 1867 of the Wyoming dis- trict. In 1868 and 1869 he was pastor of Grace church at Buffalo and in 1870 he became presiding elder of the Genesee district. In 1872 he preached at tne Elm Park church at Seranton, Pa., and the next year he was placed on the superannuated list. He died at Cowlesville, Wyoming Co., N. Y., June · 11, 1877.
A History of the First Baptist Church, Its Meeting Houses and Its Pastors, with Some Account of the Old Town Clock, the Only Town Clock ever Seen in This Village.
The "First Baptist Church of Owe- go," the second church organized in this village, was organized Septem- ber 20, 1831, by thirteen men and seventeen women, among whom were James Clark, Abner Brooks, Asa
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. Woolverton, Latham A. Burrows, Na- thaniel Spencer, Asa Dearborn, Asa H. Truman, Ebenezer Daniels, and Asa Root. The church was organized in Daniel Chamberlain's dwelling house, which stood on the west side of Park street ..
Mr. Chamberlain was. a wagon maker. His shop stood where the Congregational church now stands. His house was south of it. The house was later owned by Miss E. H. Bates, M. D., and was burned Dec: 3, 1877, in the fire which broke out in and burned the first Congregational church edifice.
The organization was effected by delegates from the Baptist churches at Berkshire, Spencer, and Caroline. At this meeting a committee was ap- pointed to obtain a place for worship and to find & site for a meeting house. The committee subsequently reported that it had hired Mr: Chamberlain's wagon shop for six months for $15 and that it had looked for a site for a meeting house, but had been unable to find one.
William P. Stone, a member of the society, in a newspaper article written in 1882, said that none of the consti- tuent members of the new church lived nearer than two miles, and most of them. not less than five miles dis- tant, They were poor and without in- fluence, with a total valuation of less than $5,000; some working lands on shares, others laboring to hew à home out of the wilderness.
The preacher's desk in the wagon shop was a box placed on a work
- bench, and, the congregation . was seated on benches made of pine slabs, the flat side up, supported by wooden
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legs inserted into two-inch auger holes.
Services were held in this shop a few weeks when the weather be- came cold and there was no way to heat the shop. In November, 1831, application was made to the board of supervisors of Tioga county for. per- mission to occupy the court room at the court house as a place of worship, which was granted, with the provision that the church should furnish its own fuel for 'heating the room and also give a bond in the sum of $5,000 that the building should be properly cared for during their occupancy of it. When the members of the congrega- tion gathered at the court house of the next Sunday, however, they found the door locked and the under-sheriff, who had charge of the building, was not to be found. He was a member of another church, and it was charged that he had gone away purposely, so that the court house could not be oc- cupied for religious services.
Not disheartened by this rebuff, the society made an arrangement with Friendship lodge of Free Masons to occupy its lodge room, which was on the third floor of James and Wm. A. Ely's brick building on the south side of Front street, which stood where F. M. Baker & Son's hardware store now stands. It was in this lodge room that the fire which destroyed the entire business section of the village broke out in September, 1849.
The first pastor of the church was Rev. Samuel W. Ford, who was en- gaged on April 14, 1832, to preach for a term of one year, his compensation to be $300.
The first settled pastor of the
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church was James R. Burdick, a grad- uate of Brown university, who ass- unied charge June 12, 1833. His salary was 'only. $300 a year, one-half of which was paid by the society and the other half by the Baptist state con- vention. In addition to this his house rent and firewood were furnished by the society.
The society increased in numbers and steps were soon taken to build a meeting house. At a church meeting on Feb. 18, 1534, the deacon's were au- thorized to raise money by subscrip- tion and build a church as soon as pos- sible. The money was raised and the church was built that year at the southeast corner of Main and Church streets on land which Charles. Pum- polly sold to the society, for. $275. The lot had a frontage of 53 feet on Main street and 60 feet on Church street. The lot was afterward enlarged by the purchased of additional ground.
The new meeting house stood close to Main street. It was to by 60 feet in size and occupied nearly all the lot: The pulpit was at the south end. A gallery, supported by large wooden posts, extended around the west, north and cast, sides, andthe choir was stationed in the north end of the gal- lery.
The meeting house was dedicated Jan. 8, 1825, and was occupied as a place of worship twenty years. The dedication sermon was preached by Rev. Mr. Corwin.
The Old Town Clock.
In the steeple of this meeting house was placed the first and only town clock ever seen at Owego. It was the invention of Charles Frederick John-
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son, of the town of Tioga, and was constructed by him and John J. Speed, of Ithaca. May 22, 1846, a contract was made between Mr. Johnson and Joel L. Pinney; clerk of the board of trustees of the church, in which con- sent was given to Mr. Johnson to put the town clock in their meeting house at mis own expense and keep it there three months on trial. If the clock should not keep accurate time, Mr. Johnson was to remove it and put the building in as good order as before; if the clock should keep accurate time Mr. Johnson was to remove it or let it remain, at his option.
The clock was put into the steeple .... accordingly and was in running order in the following September. It had four dials and was run by huge weights. It was arranged with a strik- ing apparatus and the hours were struck upon the church bell
No provision had been made by the · village to purchase it, nor did it, in some respects, give . satisfaction. Johnson & Speed, in May, 1847, made some alterations in it, to ensure it keeping better time and offered to sell it to the village for $200, which amount was also to cover the cost of the dials and the expense of winding it, up to that time, at the same time engaging to keep it in good order for two years. The price was about one- half that of an ordinary town clock.
At the time of the annual election for village officers, June 7, 1847, John- 'son & Speed's . communication was . read and it was voted to pay them $200, provided a larger dial was put on and painted black with the hands and hours in gilt letters. Mr. Johnson agreed to comply with the terms stipu-
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lated and also agreed to have the new dial and hands in place within six weeks, which was done accordingly,
Wakeley Spencer was-employed to wind, oil, and keep the clock in order when it was first put up, and he was paid at the rate of $10 a year. The second year the village trustees de- cided to let it to the lowest bidder and it was given to William Manning at the same price. Mr. Spencer was the sexion of the church and his bid was $25 .. The result was that the church trustees would allow no one but Mr. Spencer to go into the building for the purpose of winding the clock, giv- ing as a reason that the clock inter- fered with the ringing of the bell and made it much harder to ring.
At the same time a petition, signed byabout seventy of the leading citizens was presented to the village trustees, praying. that the clock might be re- moved to some place where access might be had to it for the purpose of winding it. No action was taken, but Mr. Spencer continued to wind. the clock and was paid at the rate of $15 a year. The clock was wound subse- quently by Hiram Ferguson and after -. ward by Thomas Williams. ;
In February; 1849, the clock got out of order and Johnson & Speed were notified to repair it. The church bell was also cracked by the striking ap- paratus. At the annual election for village officers on the 4th of the fol -. lowing June, resolutions were adopted directing the trustees to remove the clock unless they could have access to the bulluing, to wind and repair it," and authorizing them to appropriate $100 toward purchasing a new bell, provided that on examination it should
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be found that the clock was the cause of the breaking of the bell.
October 6, 1856, a communication was received from the Baptist society calling attention to the necessity of removing the town clock, as the meet- ing house was to be removed and a new church built in its place. The street commissioner was accordingly directed by the trustees to take down- the clock and take charge of it. The' clock was taken to Mr. Johnson's house and was never again used.
The church was altered and re- paired in February, 1842. A one-story building for a conference room was built in Church street, south of the. church, in the spring of 1844, at a cost of $300, with money raised by sub- scription. It was built by Ambrose Townsend, a member of the society.
The society continued to. prosper and the congregation increased .in number so that in 1856 it was decided to tear down or sell the meeting house and build a larger one of brick in its place. The old building was sold to Ezra Canfield, who removed it to the lot where Gen. I. B. Ogden's cabinet shop had been burned on the north side of Main street, opposite the present Owego hotel. The gallery was extended over the whole building and the second floor thus made was used as a public hall. .
The attempt to move the meeting house was a failure at first. The con- tractor succeeded in moving it on rollers into Main street, but could get it no further than a little west of Church street, where it stood several days, blocking the street. Then R. H. Hall, a member of the congregation, who had a patent stump puller, under-
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took to finish the work and did so with his machine.
William. P. Raymond in March 1866, purchased the building and converted 'a portion of it into a meat market. John Phelps had a tin shop in part of it, and another part was occupied as a carpenter shop by Wm. H: Perry and Albert Robertson. The part back of . their places of business was rented as living rooms. In the night of Satur- day, Dec. 13, 1868, a fire broke out in the building, burning it to the ground, together with another wooden build- ing adjoining it. .
The new Baptist church was built by James A. Dean. Its construction was begun in December, 1856, and the foundation was laid the next April. It was finished in December and dedi- cated January 14, 1858. Rev. William H. King, the pastor of the church, preached the dedication sermon in the forenoon on the rise and progress of the church since its organization, and in the evening Rev. A. H. Burlingham, a former pastor, preached.
The new church cost $16,000. Be -. - fore. its. construction, the' vacant ground east of the church lot was pur- chased for $515, in the summer of
The two towers. at. the corners of the church at the north end were con- sidered ungainly, and in. 1869 it was decided to replace them with others . that would be more in harmony with modern architecture. The work was done in the spring of 1870, the mason work hy J. S. Houk and A. H. Keeler, and the carpenter work by Jas. A. Dean and Miles F. Howes: The north wall and the greater part of the west wall were taken down and a portion
THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH.
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of the building was extended out toward Church street to make an. al- cove for the organ and choir. One of the towers was converted into a handsome steeple and the other into a tower of modern shape. : The build- ing was covered with a slate roof. A baptismal pool was constructed back. of the pulpit, separated therefrom by sliding doors. The interior of the church was handsomely frescoed.
Attached to the church at the south end was built a large brick addition for a conference room two stories high. In the back part are a ladies' parlor and other rooms. In the second. story are the Sunday school rooms. The cost of the entire work was be- tween $15,000 and $20,000.
The reconstructed edifice was dedi- cated March 16; 1871, Rev. Dr. E. Dodge, president of Madison univer- sity, preaching the dedication sermon.
In the summer of 1896 the church was again remodeled. The level floor was removed and a new sloping floor built in its place, which is three feet higher at the entrance to the building than at the altar. The pews were made of semi-circular form. The work was done by contract by Lucius Ford and the improvements cost about $4,500.
May 1, 1863, the Baptist society pur- chased of David Mersereau for $500 the house' and lot east of and adjoin- ing the church grounds, and the house has ever since been occupied by the pastor of the church as a parsonage.
The pastors of the Baptist church. have been as follows:
Rev. Samuel W. Ford, April, 1832- June, 1833.
Rev. James R. Burdick, June 12, 1833-June 10, 1836.
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Rev. Alonzo Wheelock, March 1837- 1838.
Rev. Philetus B. Peck, March, 1838- August, 1847.
Rev. - Beaven, 1847-March 1848 ..
Rev. Albert L. Post, June, 1848-June, 1849.
Rev. James H. Pratt, Sept. 1, 1849- Jan., 1850.
Rev. Charles Morton; March 11, 1850-Dec. 29, 1850.
Rev. Aaron H. Burlingham, March, 1851-September, 1852.
Rev. J. M. Cooley, 1853-1854.
Rev. William H. King, June, 1854- 27 March, 1881.
Rev. Latham A. Crandall, May 22, 1881-Sept, 1, 1884.
Rev. Reuben E. Burton, Dec. 27, 1884-Feb. 20, 1889.
Rev. W. A. Granger, July, 1889-June 29, 1894.
Rev. Milton F. Negus, October, 1894- Aug. 31, 1897.
Rev. Peter B. Guernsey, September, 1897-October 1, 1899.
Rev. Riley A. Vose, October, 1899- James R. Burdick, the first pastor of this church, was a graduate of Brown university. He came to Owego from Ithaca. In June, 1836, he re- signed his pastorate and removed to Lisle, Broome county.
After the departure of Mr. Burdick, : Rev. H.G. Chase preached a few weeks, but in August, 1836, declined the pas- torate, which was tendered to him. Mr. Wheelock began his pastorate in March, 1837, and preached his farewell sermon Feb. 25, 1838.
Rev. Philetus B. Peck was born at New Woodstock, Madison county, N. Y., in 1809. He was educated for the ministry at Hamilton college. He died October 6, 1847, while on a visit to his birthplace in Madison county.
Mr. Peck was one of the pioneers in the anti-slavery movement, and in
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those days the abolitionists were very unpopular with the people. Having the courage of his convictions, Mr. Peck at the outset of his pastorate preached a sermon in which he made an attack upon slavery, which so in- censed some of his hearers that at its close he was asked by the deacons to , meet them and some of the · older members of the church in the vestry. He was there informed that his senti- ments on this question were distaste- ful to them and that the matter of slavery should not be referred to again by him in the pulpit. Mr. Peck re- plied that he should be discreet, but should never compromise his convic- tions, and would denounce the sin of slavery whenever he should deem it wise to do so. His defence of his course was so strongly made that it. was finally decided that he should be allowed to act upon his own convic- tions.
In December, 1839, Mr. Peck pur- chased of J. L. Pinney a lot on the north side of main street, nearly op- posite Ross street, where he built a house, in which he lived during the rest of his life and which was occu- pied by his family after his death.
In March, 1897, a sermon in memory of Mr. Peck was preached by Rev. M. F. Negus, when two circular granite tablets, each 18 .nenes in diameter, on the south wall of the church were un- veiled. On one tablet in carved let- ters, gilded, are the words: "In loving memory of Rev. Philetus B. Peck, our Pastor. 1838-1847." On the other tablet is the following inscription: "In loving memory of Rev. Williani Harvey King, D. D., our pastor. 1854- 1881.
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For many years a white marble monument stood in the northeastern part of the church yard, which monu- ment was placed there in Mr. Peck's memory. It bears the following in- scription : "In memory of Rev. Phile- tus B. Peck, late pastor of the First Baptist church in Owego, who died Oct. 6, 1847, aged .38 years. His last words were, "The will of the Lord be · done; the will of the Lord be done,' , and then fell asleep in Jesus, blessed sleep, from which none ever wake to weep. This monument was erected by the young ladies and gentlemen and Sabbath school scholars of the Baptist church and society in Owego in memory of their beloved pastor and Sabbath school superintendent." Soon after the unveiling of the tablet in Mr. Peck's memory inside the church the monument was removed to Evergreen cemetery.
William F. Warner says of Mr. Peck:
"He was one of the leading clergy- men of his denomination and a natural leader of the people, one who exerted an influence, not only through- out his own particular congregation but throughout the town and county. He was also a prominent man in the councils of the Baptist denomniation .. He was a man of judgment and discre- tion, and possessed the love and re- spect of all. His death was felt as a public loss, and his memory is cherished by all who knew him."
After. Mr. Peck's death there was for a few months no settled pastor. Revs. Jabez Swan and John Peck, father of P. B. Peck, preached until Mr. Bevan came in the winter of 1847- 8. Mr. Bevan resigned his pastorate in March, 1848.
Mr. Post preached a year in 1848-9. Mr. Pratt was pastor only four
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months. In January, 1850, he resigned on account of ill health. Mr. Morton preached only seven months. He eanie here from Newark, N. J.
Rev. Aaron. H. Burlingham was a man of great ability. He came here from Pittsburgh, Pa. He resigned his pastorate to accept a call from Boş- , ton, Mass. He died March 1, 1905, at Mount Vernon, N. Y., aged 83 years.
Rev. William H. King, a self-edu- cated man, a scholar, and one of the
REV. WILLIAM H. KING.
ablest of all the pastors of this church, was born Oct. 8, 1820, in the town of Otsego, Otsego county, N. Y. His father died when he was nine years old and six years later he came to live with his brother, a lumberman and farmer on Shepard's creek, two miles - north of Factoryville, now east Wa- verly. Here, when not engaged at work for his brother, he studied Latin,
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Greek, Hebrew, and French. From 1843 to 1848 he taught school at Wa- verly, and while thus engaged began preaching. In 1849 he was ordained to the ministry at Athens, Pa., and assumed the pastorate of the Baptist church there. He came to Owego in March, 1854, and was pastor of the Baptist church here 27 years, when he resigned his pastorate on account of ill health. He was a profound student, a deep thinker, and a sound reasoner. As a recreation he studied medicine, but did not practise. . He preached against slavery and for temperance, and was a vigorous supporter of the government during the civil war. He was interested in local public affairs and was one of the trustees of the old Owego academy and when the schools were consolidated under the union school law in 1864 he was elected a member of the board of school com- missioners and was twice re-elected. He was broad in his views, firm in his beliefs, and always fearless in express- ing them.
Rev. 1. A. Crandall was a graduate of Hillsdale · college, Michigan. He was graduated from the Rochester theological seminary May 18, 1881, and came at once to Owego. In July, 1884, he resigned his pastorate and became pastor. of the Twenty-third Street Bap- tist church in New York city. In February, 1889, he went to Cleveland, Ohio, having accepted a call to the Euclid Avenue Baptist church.
Rev. R. E. Burton came to Owego from Buffalo. He was opposed to dancing and card playing; and "having the courage of his convictions" he. condemned them in his sermons. Some of the members of his congrega-
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tion took offence at his course, and as a disposition was manifested to re- duce his salary, in order to compel him to resign, he did resign. This was in February, 1887. The opposition to his leaving, however, was so great that he afterward acceded to the request of a committee and withdrew his resig- nation. In 1889 he resigned his pas- torate and became pastor of the Dela- ware Street Baptist church in Syra- ouse.
Rev. W. A. Granger resigned his pastorate here in June, 1894, to accept a call to the Baptist church at Mount. Vernon, N. Y., with a larger salary. He was pastor of that church until April 16, 1908, when he preached his farewell sermon, having resigned to , take the presidency of the Baptist mis- sionary convention of the state of New York.
Rev. Milton F. Negus came from Minneapolis, Minn., in August, 1894, to accept the pastorate of this church, and began his duties on the first Sun- day in October. In May, 1897, he 're- ceived a call to the First . Baptist church of Brooklyn and assumed the pastorate there on. Sept. 1. Mr. Negus is a son of Rev. C. R. Negus, who was for forty years a successful pastor in: central New York. He was educated at Colgate university and Rochester theological seminary, graduating from the latter institution in 1887. He was at once called to the pastorate of the Fourth Baptist church of Minneapolis, Minn., where he remained seven years and until he came to Owego.
After having filled the pastorate of. the Owego church two years, Rev. P. B. Guernsey resigned in September, 1899, to take the presidency of Roger
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