USA > New York > Dutchess County > Hyde Park > Historical notes of Saint James Parish, Hyde Park-on-Hudson, New York, in commemoration of the belated centenary anniversary of the consecration of the first parish church, October 10, 1811 > Part 2
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The "old rectory," as it is always familiarly called, was in such serious condition at the time of Dr. Ashton's election, that the new rector took up his residence in the Livingston house on Park Place-a fine old colonial house with extensive grounds.
This house was bought chiefly through the generosity of Messrs. Archibald Rogers and Elbridge T. Gerry, vestrymen, in 1895, and is the present rectory, the old one having been torn down in April, 1893.
In 1894 cellars were dug under both chapel and reading room proper foundations laid, and the property generally renovated at considerable expense. Dr. Ashton took an active part in missionary and diocesan affairs, so that the influence of his ability and character were far reaching. No mention has been made of the good done by the wives and families of the rectors, and yet the part played in the homes of the village in kind ministry of cheer and comfort and help of such women as Mrs. Ashton, Miss Purdy, the second Mrs Purdy, Miss Sherwood and others has been a large factor in parish life
SOME STATISTICS from October, 1811, to October, 1911.
Baptisms
.1605
Confirmations
. 749
Marriages
. 189
Burials .
944
16
Historical Notes of
The first Baptism is that of Sarah Barton,* infant daughter of John de Normandie and Susan Maria (Bedford) Gillespie.
Among the early records it is interesting to note the number of slaves baptized, most of the old families in 1811 and the following years owning slaves, and their emancipation coming gradually.f These freedmen have all moved away.
It is exceedingly difficult to gauge spiritual forces. How great a part the church, its ministries and Sacraments played in the moulding of life and character during the hundred years past, and what influence those lives and characters exerted in the affairs of town, and county, and state and nation we may not specifically and confidently affirm, but our confidence that they were manifold and great is none the less sure. It would be an interesting study to follow the lives of those bap- tized and given Christian nurture in Saint James parish, and to note their fruits. This work the angels of God have done, and we must rest in the hope of knowing something of it after death.
*She was an elder sister of the Rt. Rev. George de Norman- die Gillespie, the first Bishop of the diocese of Western Michi- gan. The Bard and de Normandie families in the genera- tion of the parents of Dr. Samuel and Mrs. Bard were doubly related a brother and sister marrying sister and brother. The babe was named for a great-great aunt Sarah de Normandie who married the Rev. Mr. Barton, who in later life lived with Dr. Bard. She married Oswald Cammann of New York.
¡NOTE-In looking up the question of slavery in the State of New York I find that slaves were recognized by law in New York in 1656, and that along about the time of the Revolution societies were formed for the purpose of improving the con- dition of the slaves. New York had such a society, with John Jay as its first president, and Alexander Hamilton was its sec- ond president. These societies succeeded in suppressing the slave trade from 1808, but New York had started a gradual abolition of slavery as early as 1799.
Prior to 1678 there were very few slaves in the State of New York. In 1698 there were 293, in Kings County alone. In 1723 there were 6,171; in 1790 there were 21,324, from which time they commenced to decrease. In 1820 there were only 10,0SS; in 1830-75; in 1840-4.
EDWARD H. WALES.
S. JAMES RECTORY, from the street.
S. JAMES RECTORY, from the Garden.
THE CHAPEL IN STAATSBURGH.
THE INTERIOR THEREOF.
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FAC-SIMILE OF THE DEED TO THE LAND From Samuel and Mary Bard.
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FAC-SIMILE OF THE ORIGINAL SUBSCRIPTION PAPER Preserved in the Parish Archives.
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FLOOR PLAN OF S. JAMES CHURCH, 1837
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17
S. James Church
THE RECTORS
1. The Reverend John McVickar, D.D. 1811 to 1817.
2. The Reverend David Brown. 1818 to 1823.
3. The Reverend Samuel Roosevelt Johnson, D.D. 1824 to 1833.
4. The Reverend Reuben Sherwood, D.D. 1835 to 1856.
5. The Reverend Horace Stringfellow, D.D. 1856 to 1860.
6. The Reverend James Souveraine Purdy, D.D. 1860 to 1876.
7. The Reverend Philander Kinney Cady, D.D. 1876 to 1887.
8. The Reverend Richmond Herbert Gesner, B.D. 1887 to 1890.
9. The Reverend Amos Turner Ashton, D.D. 1891 to 1911.
10. The Reverend Edward Pearsons Newton, M.A. 1912-
18
Historical Notes of
THE REVEREND JOHN McVICKAR, JR. 1811-1817
John McVickar, son of John and Anna (Moore), McVickar was born in the city of New York, on the tenth of August, 1787. His father was a wealthy merchant of New York and a vestry- man of old Trinity 1801-1812. He graduated from Columbia College as valedictorian of the class of 1804. In 1807 he be- came a candidate for Holy Orders, in preparation for which he read theology under the guidance of the Rev. John Henry Hobart, who later, having been chosen assistant Bishop of the Diocese, ordained him. On Sunday evening, November 12, 1809, he married Miss Eliza Bard at Hyde Park, and the first year of their married life was spent in the home of Dr. Bard, while he continued his studies. These circumstances gave shape to Dr. Bard's desire to build a church. MeVickar was something of an architect, so that the planning of his own home called Inwood, and that of the church and the erection of both went on together. On the day following the Consecration of the church, Friday, October 11, 1811, he was ordained to the diaconate by Bishop Hobart, and was given charge of the new parish. Immediately following the opening services of the Dioceasn Convention in 1812, he was ordained priest in Trini- ty Church, New York. On November 13, 1817, he was elected Professor of Moral Philosophy, Rhetoric and Belles Lettres in Columbia College, and the following year at his own request, without increase of salary, Intellectual Philosophy and Polit- ical Economy were added to his department. This was the first introduction into an American College of a chair of politi- cal economy. In 1829 he was an aspirant for the Presidency of the College, being the natural choice on many accounts, and urged by persons of influence, but on December 9, when the election took place, Dr. Wm. Alexander Duer, formerly one of his vestrymen in Hyde Park, was elected by a majority of one vote. Though disappointed he gave Dr. Duer loyal support. While engaged in academic duties, he often preached in Grace Church and Trinity, and shared in the general public duties of the Church in the metropolis. In 1820 he was ap-
JOHN MOVICKAR.
19
S. James Church
pointed to the missionary committee having the care of the Oneida Indians. In 1826 he was elected a trustee of the Gen- eral Theological Seminary, serving as member of the standing committee. At the same time he was chosen Vice-President of the N. Y. Bible and Prayer Book Society, and of the N. Y. Tract Society. In 1828 he was made a trustee of Trinity School, and in 1840 Vice-President of the City Mission Society. From 1834 to 1868 he was a member of the Standing Committee of the Diocese, and front 1862 to 1868 president thereof. From 1844 to 1862 he was Chaplain at Fort Columbus, Governor's Island. At this time it was the recruiting depot for the Army and its Chaplain had opportunity for wide spiritual usefulness, missionary work of the highest character and value. There was no place provided for public worship, but with his accus- tomed energy and perseverance and the kind aid of General Scott, the Government was led to set apart a plot of ground and a frame chapel was erected after Dr. Mc Vickar's own plans. It cost $2,500. He says: "What I can raise by the help of friends I will; what I cannot I must bear, and hold it a con- secrated gift, laid on God's altar, a trespass-offering for years of over-devotion to the acquisition of wealth." He was deeply interested in the sending of Colonel Stephenson's regiment to California in 1849. Looking upon them as colonists, and realizing the importance of their own religious life and habits upon the future of the new territory, he labored among them untiringly and before they sailed he had persuaded them to elect a chaplain, determine on daily prayers on shipboard, and saw that they were provided with Bibles and Prayer Books. His sermons and addresses are filled with earnest interest and solicitude for their future, and counsels of the soundest com- mon sense. IIe fully believed, as he said, that "The virtue of the people is our only political security, and the institutions of Christianity our only sufficient safeguard for the existence of that virtue". In 1851 in Trinity Church he preached the sermon at the celebrating of the Third Semi-Centennial of the venerable Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and in 1854 after the death of Bishop Wainwright he preached the sermon before the Diocesan Council, which smoothed the
20
Historical Notes of
way for the immediate election of a successor. In 1851 his college duties were lightened, four professorships being made from his department, of which he retained the chair of Evi- dences of Natural and Revealed Religion. In 1864 he retired from active college duty and became Professor Emeritus. He then made Irvington-on-Hudson his home, where he died October 29, 1868, and his body was brought to rest in the yard of his own first parish church. A short while before his death Bishop Horatio Potter had said in his convention address, "One venerable and honored presbyter of this diocese, op- pressed with the weight of years, but not chilled in his love for the Church or in his devotion to duty, retires from the official station which he has so long and ably filled as President of the Standing Committee-the Rev. John McVickar, D.D., for half a century a professor in Columbia College-what a historical name in this diocese! How steadfast in his princi- ples, how far reaching in his views, and how elevated in all his thoughts and sentiments! May the rays of that sun which never sets to the Christian heart shine brightly and cheerily along his path, and in his chamber, until faith, hope and love change into the bliss and glory of the perfect day."
THE REVEREND DAVID BROWN 1818-1823
Rev. David Brown was born at Hopkinstown, Rhode Island, October 3, 1786. In 1807 he began to study law, but abandon- ed it and studied theology in New York City in 1816 with the Rev. Thomas Lyell, D.D. He was ordained deacon by Bishop Hobart, October 23, 1817, and priest October 23, 1818. His first ministerial labor was, while still a deacon, at Saint James Church, Hyde Park, New York, although he had assisted Rev. Thomas Lyell, rector of Christ Church, New York, while study- ing with him. In February, 1823, he became missionary at Fredonia, Chautauqua County, and parts adjacent, remaining there until 1826. In 1828 he was principal of a Female Aca- demy in Albany. From 1831-34 he was missionary at Lock- port, New York, leaving there to enter the service of the
SAMUEL ROOSEVELT JOHNSON.
21
S. James Church
Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society at S. Augustine and later Jacksonville, Florida. In 1844 he became rector at Florence, Alabama, and returned in 1843 to New York to be- come the missionary at Cold Spring Harbor. In 1851 he was instituted rector of Saint Andrews Church, Lambertville, New Jersey, a position which he held until August, 1867. He then retired from the rectorship because of old age, but con- tinued to live in Lambertville until his death, December 7, 1875. A few years before his death he mentions in his annual reports to his Bishop a "little work of great labor on infant baptism" which he has ready for the press, but it seems never to have been published. The following are the closing senten- ces of an obituary of Mr. Brown which appeared in the Church- man for January 8, 1876: "Mr. Brown possessed a mind of more than ordinary power and clearness, and was gifted with an unusually retentive memory. This great gift added to his long, studious and varied life, made him a most interesting and instructive companion to those who came in contact with him, especially his younger brethren of the clergy. Of late years he lived much apart from the stirring centers of life, but in his retirement he always retained his intelligent apprecia- tion of all that interested younger and more active men."
THE REVEREND SAMUEL ROOSEVELT JOHNSON, D.D. 1824-1833
Samuel Roosevelt Johnson was born at Newton, Long Is- land, November 18, 1802. He graduated from Columbia in 1820 and from the General Theological Seminary in 1823. In 1824 he was called as rector of Saint James Church, Hyde Park, where he remained ten years. While there he was or- dained priest in his own parish church by Bishop Hobart, August 1, 1827, having been previously ordained deacon in 1824 by Bishop Croes. While at Hyde Park he married Eliza- beth Johnston, a granddaughter of Dr. Samuel Bard, Septemn- ber 6, 1826, and his three elder children were born there. In 1834 he accepted a call to Flushing, Long Island, where he re-
22
Historical Notes of
mained nearly a year. In 1835 the general Church aroused herself to the great missionary work which lay before her and sent out Bishop Kemper to take charge of what was then known as "The Northwest", a district which now comprises the ter- ritory of several dioceses. Johnson felt moved to give up his flourishing parish at Flushing and the comforts of life in the East and to volunteer at his own expense to become the travel- ing companion of the Bishop. For nearly a year he traveled with him. In 1837, having previously officiated four months at Jeffersonville, he brought his family to Lafayette, Indiana, there to remain about ten years. In this place he organized a · parish, giving the site for a church building and a large portion of the money necessary for its construction, as well as serving as its rector without salary. IIe aided also, by personal ex- ertions and gifts, in establishing the Church in many other lo- calities in Indiana. He was regarded as the man for the Bis- hopric when the Diocese of Indiana was organized, but he an- ticipated the wish and assured his friends that under no cir- cumstances would he consent to take the position. In 1847 he returned to the East and became rector of Saint Johns Church, Brooklyn, a position which he gave up upon his elec- tion in 1850 as Professor of Systematic Divinity in the General Theological Seminary. He served as professor for twenty years, resigning the position in June, 1869, but consenting to remain another year at the urgent request of the Trustees. During this period he was one of the most influential professors at the Seminary and the testimony of his many students bears witness to the great love and veneration in which he was held while there. On leaving the Seminary he rested for a brief interval from active work and then accepted the rectorship of Saint Thomas Church, Amenia, a missionary station in the eastern part of Duchess County, New York. In this retired and beautiful spot he passed the few remaining days of his life, devoting himself with diligence not only to the care of his flock but to the welfare and best interests of the entire com- munity. He died on August 13, 1873, and his body was buried in the church-yard of Saint James Church, Hyde Park.
REUBEN SHERWOOD.
23
S. James Church
THE REVEREND REUBEN SHERWOOD, S. T. D. 1835-1856
Dr. Sherwood was born in 1789 and graduated from Yale University in 1813, receiving the degree from the same insti- tution in 1817 of A.M. He was ordained deacon by Bishop Griswold, May 5, 1815, and priest by Bishop Hobart, November 4, 1816. From 1816-20 he was the acting rector at Saint Pauls Church, Norwalk, Connecticut, being formally institu- ted rector of the same church in 1820, where he remained till 1830. For one year he became rector of the Hartford Acad- emy, Hartford, Connecticut, leaving there in 1831 to become the missionary at Ulster, New York. He organized Saint Johns Church, Kingston, soon after removing to Ulster. At Easter, 1835, he became rector of Saint James Church, Hyde Park, where he remained until his death, May 11, 1856. In 1840 Hobart College conferred upon him the honorary degree of S.T.D. From the notice of his death, which appeared in the Church Journal of New York City of May 15, 1856, the fol- lowing sentences are taken: "Dr. Sherwood's departure re- moves a landmark from among the clergy of this diocese. His position of simple, straightforward performance of what he believed to be his duty, on principle, gained him the highest respect of all, even of those who most widely differed from him. All will grieve that the upright vigor of his hoary head, the firm Roman energy of his manly profile, the gentle strength of his calm blue eye shall no more be seen among us, and that the tones of his voice,-slow, distinct, deliberate, yet tremulous with intense earnestness of emotion, shall no longer be heard in the councils of the Church. Few have passed as scathless as he through the most exciting controversies of our day. Few retire to rest crowned with a higher honor in the hearts of all whom he leaves behind him." Dr. Sherwood published the following works:
The Christian Soldier, a sermon preached in S. James Church .... the third Sunday after Trinity, 1840.
A Pastoral address to the members of S. James Church . on the observance of Lent.
24
Historical Notes of
Church offerings . ..... a sermon at the anniversary ..... of the Prot. Episc. Tract Soc. (etc.) in the Church of the As- cension, City of New York . . . Sept. 28, 1842.
The workmen, and their work, in God's building. Sermon at the Opening of the Annual Convention . ... in the Diocese of New York . .. . in S. Johns Chapel, N. Y., Sept. 24, 1845.
THE VENERABLE HORACE STRINGFELLOW, D.D. 1856-1860
Dr. Stringfellow was born August 6, 1827, at Madison Court- house, Virginia. He was ordained deacon July 12, 1850, by Bishop Meade, and priest August 6, 1851, by Bishop Johns. After attending the theological seminary in Alexandria and leaving there in 1850, he became rector of S. Johns Church, Harper's Ferry, and later assistant at S. Pauls, Baltimore, and rector of S. Andrews, Baltimore. In 1856 he became rector of S. James Church, Hyde Park, where the birth of several of his children and the kindness of the people created life-long attachments. He left S. James in 1860 and became rector of Christ Church, Indianapolis, one of the largest par- ishes there. During the Civil War he left his parish to serve as a chaplain in the Southern Army, going through many battles in charge of a hospital corps. Toward the close of the war he ran the blockade and went to Canada and held a small parish there for a time, returning almost immediately to In- dianapolis, however, and becoming rector of S. Pauls parish there, which shortly became the cathedral of the diocese. Fully a dozen buildings, churches, chapels, and hospitals, owe their existence to his energy. The urgings of Bishop Wilmer led him to leave his large parish in Indiana to go to Alabama where prospects were poor and dreary. He became rector of S. Johns Church, Montgomery, in 1869 and remained there until his death. Besides fulfilling all the duties of his large parish he was Archdeacon of Alabama, carrying the in- fluence of his attractive personality and force of character into various parishes and towns throughout the diocese. He
HORACE STRINGFELLOW.
25
S. James Church
died on November 6, 1893. Dr. Stringfellow's body was a type of his soul. It was said of him that "from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of his people."
THE REVEREND JAMES S. PURDY, D.D. 1860-1876
The Rev. James Souveraine Purdy was born in Rye, New York, Sept. 1, 1825, He was graduated from Trinity College in the class of 1849 and from the General Theological Seminary in the class of 1852, after which he served for one year as tutor of Latin and Greek in Trinity College, when he became rector of Trinity Church, Southport, Conn., 1854 to 1858. On May 16, 1854, he was married to Miss Susan Bard Johnson, daugh- ter of Dr. Samuel Roosevelt Johnson, D.D. In 1858 he be- came Vicar of Calvary Chapel, New York, under Dr. Hawks, which post he resigned that he might live in the country in the hope of restoring the failing health of his wife, and accepted the call to S. James Church, Hyde Park, in 1860. Mrs. Purdy died the same year, leaving a young daughter, Elizabeth John- son (Sister Elisa Monica of the Order of Saint John Baptist, at this date (1913) Sister in charge of S. Helens Hall, Port- land, Oregon).
On December 17, 1862, he married Miss Frances Hannah Carter, daughter of the Rev. Lawson Carter, who bore to him a son, Mr. Lawson Purdy of New York City.
Dr. Purdy was through life a most diligent student. In Trinity College he distinguished himself in the classical lan- guages. One recalls that during his Seminary course he made an extended abstract of Bingham's voluminous work on Chris- tian Antiquities and another copious one of a standard work on Dogmatic Theology by a Roman Catholic writer. When Frederick Denison Maurice became a power in the Church he purchased and read all his works, "and when he unfolded and criticised his theology, ethics and philosophy to my wondering ear, I was astounded by his exposition, its clearness, fullness and satisfactoriness. I remember on another occasion his in- forming me that he had just finished reading in the original,
26
Historical Notes of
eight or ten volumes of St. Simon's Memoirs". His sermons were invariably striking. They were full of matter, vivid in style and arresting in interest. One could not help listening absorbingly to them. And his conversation, when he was in the vein of talking, was most delightful. His affections were strong. He made the warmest of friends. And his sympathy with the destitute and suffering was extreme. Supplicants for aid preyed on him. He gave indiscriminately, without investigation, and necessarily was constantly imposed upon and robbed. At Saint James Dr. Purdy served sixteen years, the best years of his ministry, a vigorous patient, devoted ministry. The memories of his Bible classes are still fresh. After his retirement he gratuitously tutored numbers of young men, helping them to enter college. Dr. Purdy died on March 21, 1883.
THE REVEREND PHILANDER KINNEY CADY, D.D .* 1876-1887
The Rev. P. K. Cady, D.D., was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, October 23, 1826. He graduated in 1843 from Woodward College, Cincinnati, from the General Theological Seminary in 1850, and received the degree of A. M. from Trinity College, Hartford, in 1856. He was ordained deacon June 30, 1850, by Bishop Whittingham, and priest June 29, 1851, by Bishop DeLancey. In 1851 he became rector of Trinity Church, West Troy, New York. From 1856-1860 he was rector of Grace Church, Newark, where he did much to make the work of that parish permanent and effective. His other parishes have been Grace Church, Albany, 1861-65; Christ Church, Poughkeepsie, 1866-75; Saint James Church, Hyde Park, 1876 -87. In 1871, 1874 and 1877 he was Clerical Deputy of the Diocese of New York to the meetings of the General Conven- tions held in those years. In 1889 Dr. Cady was elected to the Professorship of the Evidences of Natural and Revealed Religion in the General Theological Seminary. This position he held until 1902, when he was made Professor Emeritus. He was Acting Dean of the Seminary from the death of Dean
*See plate facing page 66.
JAMES SOUVERAINE PURDY.
27
S. James Church
Hoffman in June 1902, to the installation of Dean Robbins in September, 1903. Columbia University conferred upon him in 1876 the degree of S. T. D., and in 1895 the Seminary did the same. On June 11, 1863, Dr. Cady married Miss Helen S. Hamilton, who died in 1868. Dr. Cady now lives at Ridgefield, Connecticut.
THEREVERENDRICHMONDHERBERTGESNER, B.D .* 1887-1890
Richmond Herbert Gesner was born in Kingston, N. Y., while his father the Rev. A. H. Gesner was rector of the Church of the Holy Spirit. He prepared for college at the Holbrook School, Ossining, N. Y., and entering S. Stephens College, Annandale in 1877, and graduated with honors in 1883.
He graduated from the General Theological Seminary in 1886 and the following February, while minister in charge of S. Johns Church, Yonkers, was advanced to the priesthood by Bishop Potter. The General Seminary in the following June conferred upon him the degree of Bachelor of Divinity. Bishop Potter commended Mr. Gesner to the rectorate of this parish and he entered upon his duties in July, 1887, serving the parish until June, 1890, when he became the first rector of S. Marys Church, Tower, Minn. After a year's service there, he was recommended by Bishop Gilbert to the parish of his boyhood, Zion Church, Morris, N. Y. Thence after four years he went to old Christ Church, West Haven, the most historic parish in Connecticut. In 1899 he accepted the call of Trinity Church, Lime Rock. After seven years of work there he went to Christ Church, Oswego, one of the leading parishes of Cen- tral New York. Mr Gesner is a member of three very impor- tant committees in the diocese. In 1890 he married Miss Virginia I. Brett of Albany, N. Y. They have four children. Mr. Gesner has been for many years a contributor of verse to the Boston Evening Transcript and has in preparation a little book on the Evidences of the Christian Faith.
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