USA > New York > Westchester County > Bedford > History of Bedford Church : discourse delivered at the celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Presbyterian Church of Bedford, Westchester Co., New York, March 22d, 1881 > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9
At a Town meeting held at Bedford this 4th day of April 1721 this above subscription voted & confirmed Recorded by me Zach Mills Cler
At a meeting of ye propriators of ye old & Cohomong purchases in ye Township of Bedford voted that ye Rever- end M' William Tenant shall have his hundred acres of land ye remainder of land mentioned in his deed laid out forthwith by ye Towns Comittee not exceeding two peices voted this 2 Ist day of February 172I
Recorded pr Zach Mills Cler
The Comitee appointed by ye Sosiaty of Bedford for ye measuring of lands appertaining to ye abovsd Town have measured and laid out the subsequent parcel of land in favours of ye Reved William Tennant in Bedford in maner following-The norwest corner by ye road to ye fishing pools bounded by a red oak tree upon ye old purchas line runing southerly 24 rods to a black oak tree upon Joshua Hills bounds marked with a heap of stones about it from thence runing easterly 56 rods to a white oak tree upon Joshua Hills northeast bounds marked thence northerly by ye space of 16 rodds to a white oak tree marked upon ye old purchase bounds thence runing
172I.
52
HISTORY OF BEDFORD CHURCH.
1722.
westerly 56 rodds to ye first tree from ye white oak upon ye old purchas line above specified runing easterly 168 rodd [to ? ] a swamp white oak marked upon ye old purchas bounds thence runing westerly 120 rodds to red oak marked thence runing northerly 216 rods to a white oak tree at Joshua Hills northeast corner thence to ye place of begining 16 rods from ye above mentioned swamp white oak tree at ye swamps side runing westerly 40 rodds to a white oake tree marked thence northerly to a walnut stadle wt a heap of stones about it thence easterly 40 .rodds ye contents of wc is 80 [acres ?] Signed by us March ye 20th annodom 1722 John Miller Joseph Holmes Jonathan Miller
Recorded April ye 20th 1722 pr Zach Mills Cler
The Commitee appointed by ye socity of Bedford for ye measuring of lands appertaining to ye abovsd Town have measured and laid ye following peice of land for ye Reverend William Tennant in Bedford as below specified ye norwest corner bounded by a black oak tree extending easterly 40 rodds to a white oak tree upon ye old purchas bounds thence runing sutherly 93 rodds to a drie white oak tree thence westerly 39 rodds to a chesnut tree marked thence northerly 100 rodd to ye place of begining ye con- tents of which is 20 acres Signed by us April ye 13th annoq dom 1722 John Miller Zach Mills Joseph Holmes Jonathan Miller
Recorded Aprill ye 20th 1722 pr Zach Mills Cler
Bedford November ye 8th 1725 Then laid out to ye Reverend Mr William Tenant 23 acres of land sised [sized] for 18 acres begining at ye southeast corner of sd Mr Tenents fence at Cantito thence to run easterly 32 rods to ye edge of a swamp thence northerly 26 rods to a stake being William Hills northwest corner bounds
53
HISTORY OF BEDFORD CHURCH.
thence easterly 28 rod to a stake being William Hills northeast corner bounds thence along ye rode northerly . to a white oak tree marked I thence westerly 74 rods to ye corner of sd fence thence south to ye place of begin- ing & also three acres to ye southward of ye land [of ] Benjamin Kellum adjoyning to his own land begining at a white oak stadle marked being sd Mr Tenants former bounds thence running northerly to a walnut stadle marked 20 rods thence westerly 24 rods to a red oak stadle marked thence southerly 24 rods to a stake thence easterly 24 rods to ye place of begining laid out by us Joseph Holmes Zach Mills Comitee
Recorded ye date abovsd pr Zach Mills Cler
This Indenture made this sixteenth day of August in ye thirteenth year of ye reign of our sovereign lord George by ye grace of God of Great Brittain France and Ireland King defender of ye faith &c and in ye year of our Lord Jesus Christ one thousand seven hundred twenty & six & between the Reverend Mr William Tenant of Bedford in Westchester County in ye Colony of New York of ye one part and Isaac Quintard of Stanford in Fairfield County in ye Colony of Conecticut merchant of ye other part witnesseth that ye abovsd William Tenant for & in consideration of ye sum of forty pounds currant money of New York to him in hand paid by ye abovsd Isaac Quintard. . have sold. . . unto ye abovsd Isaac Quintard. . . one parcel or lot of land at a place called Bateses Ridg containing by estimation thirteen acres and also three acres of land adjoyning to said land and also one other parcel of land at a place called Kellums Ridg containing by estimation twenty acres. To have and to hold [etc.]
WILLIAM TENANT.
1725.
54
HISTORY OF BEDFORD CHURCH.
1726.
This Indenture made this twenty-third day of August in ye year of our Lord Christ one thousand seven hundred twenty & six & between ye Reverend Mr William Tenant of Bedford in Westchester County in ye Colony of New York of ye one part and Hezekiah Roberts & Theophilus Kellum of ye abovsd town, County & Colony yeon of ye other part witnesseth that ye abovsd William Tennant for & in consideration of the sum of one hundred twenty & two pounds currant money of New York. . . have sold. . . . . unto ye abovsd Theophilus Kellum & Hezekiah Roberts. . . all these several parcels of land hereafter exprest in ye bounds of ye abovsd Bed- ford at a place called Cantito & bounded as followeth one lot is bounded ye northwest corner by ye rode to ye fishing falls. ... and also one other peice of land. .. . laid out for eighty acres. . . and also one other peice of land laid out for forty-three acres. . . and also one other peice of land laid out for three acres. . . . To have and to hold [etc. ] Signed & sealed in the presence of us Will Bradford Gilbert Tennant
WILLIAM TENNANT.
These presents witnesseth that Mrs Cathrin Tenant wife to ye within Mr William Tennant doth. . . . make over all her right title interest claim or demand to ye within devised premises. .. to ye abovsd Hezekiah Roberts & Theophilus Kellum [etc.] Sealed & delivered in presence of Zach Mills John Tennant. *
* Town Records of Bedford. vol. II., pp. 69, 73, 95, 116, 105. Other parcels of land, which remained in Mr. Tennent's posses- sion, were after his decease conveyed by his son Gilbert to the trustees of the Presbyterian Church of Bedford.
May 16, 1749. Gilbert Tennent of Philadelphia in the Colony
55
1720 to 1727,
HISTORY OF BEDFORD CHURCH.
It is with no small satisfaction that I adduce this evidence, to establish the fact that Bedford was for so long a period the home and parish of William Tennent. "The Presbyterian Church," says Dr. Alexander, " is probably not more indebted for her prosperity, and for the evangelical spirit which has generally pervaded her body, to any individual, than to the elder Tennent." We cannot doubt that his preaching and holy living, and the examples of piety furnished by his family, made an abiding impression upon this community. The dates given in the scanty traditional accounts of Tennent's life and the lives of his sons, are so confusing, that we cannot speak positively of the events that may have occurred within these seven years spent in Bedford. But it seems highly probable that dur- ing this period, Gilbert, the elder son, pursued his
of Pennsylvania, Gentleman : Son of and heir at law unto Rev. William Tennent formerly of Bedford in Westchester County in the Colony of New York, but lately of Neshamina in the Colony of Pensilvania, Deceased, for the promoting and supporting of the gospel of Jesus Christ according and under the Presbyterian Dis- cipline in the above said Bedford-gave to John Holmes, John Miller and Zebediah Mills, trustees, and their successors, several pieces of land, formerly possessed by his Reverend Father, for the use and support of the ministry. .... viz., one house and home lot containing by estimation about ten acres : two lots in the east field containing eight acres each : one piece on the south side of Mahanus River, containing by estimation twelve acres ; three acres on a plain called South Plain : one acre and a quarter in a meadow called Theal's meadow: one and a half acre in a meadow called David's Hill meadow : two acres and a half in a meadow called the great meadow, &c., &c.
56
HISTORY OF BEDFORD CHURCH.
studies for the holy ministry under his father's care, and began to preach the Gospel; that William, the second son, while visiting his brother Gilbert in New Brunswick, had that marvellous trance, the recollection of which lives in the Christian mind to this day ; and that John, the third son, passed through the remarkable religious experiences of which his brother has left us so graphic an ac- count .*
1728.
20 February.
" At Bedford they have had a Presbyterian min- ister," writes Mr. Wetmore of Rye, not long after Mr. Tennent's departure. " They gave him a house and farm to work upon, and forty pounds per annum. But finding it not sufficient to sup- port him with a numerous family, he has left them, and they are now settled with another young man, to whom they give the same allowance."+ This young man, Tennent's successor, was HENRY BALDWIN, the son of Barnabas Baldwin, of Mil- ford, Connecticut.± He was graduated at Yale College, in 1726,§ and came to Bedford soon after
* Biographical Sketches of the Founder and Principal Alumni of the Log College. Together with an Account of the Revivals of Religion under their Ministry. Collected and Edited by A. Alex- ander, D.D .- Princeton, N. J., 1845 ; pp. 129-133.
+ History of the Prot. Episc. Church in Westchester Co., N.Y., by R. Bolton, p. 249.
# Baptized 14 June, 1702 .- The Baldwin Genealogy from 1500 to 1881. By Charles Candee Baldwin, M.A .- Cleveland, O., 1881.
§ It can scarcely be doubted that this Henry Baldwin is the per- son so named in Yale College Catalogue ; though, if our presump- tion be correct, the Catalogue is in error in giving the date of his decease as 1727.
57
HISTORY OF BEDFORD CHURCH.
Tennent's removal .* The following minute, which has just come to light, contains the only trace of his ministry here that we have been able to dis- cover, in confirmation of Mr. Wetmore's state- ment :
" Att a Sociaty meeting Aprill ye seventh in . ye year of our Lord Christ one thousand seven Hundred and twenty eight then was chose by said Sociaty Vincent Simkins and Richard Holms in order for ye collecting. and gathering of ye salary of Mr Henry Baldwin wich is Raised by said sociaty and payable ye seventeenth of January next after ye date here of and only for this year above said collected by them."+
It is not known how long Mr. Baldwin contin- ued in this charge. He died before May, 1740, leaving no issue .¿ His successor was ROBERT STURGEON, a native of Scotland, who is said to have been settled here for twelve years.§ He had been Minister of the church in Wilton, Connecti- cut, from 1726 to 1732,| and he probably came to
* The minute cited above intimates that the year for which the salary was due would terminate 17 Jan., 1729. It commenced therefore in 1728.
+ The original of this interesting document is in the possession of Mrs. John C. Holmes, who has kindly communicated it to me : thus enabling me to supply another link in the succession of the Bedford ministry.
# Baldwin Genealogy.
§ President Stiles' Papers ; quoted by Webster, History of the Presbyterian Church in America, p. 492.
Contributions to the Eccl. History of Conn., p. 508.
1728. 17 Janu iry.
58
HISTORY OF BEDFORD CHURCH.
1732.
Bedford directly after leaving that place. On the twenty-fifth day of March, 1736, Jonathan Miller, of Bedford, sold to Robert Sturgeon, clerk, of the same place, ten acres of land in Bedford, for the sum of fifty pounds .*
I743. 12 October.
Sturgeon was followed in 1743 by SAMUEL SACKET, a laborious and successful Minister, whose pastorate continued for ten years. His successor was ELIPHALET BALL, who was installed on the second day of January, 1754, and remained in office fourteen years. After him came SAMUEL MILLS, installed in December, 1769, and released from his charge in May, 1786.
The period covered by these long pastorates, was one of agitation and disorder, both in Church and in State. We shall have space only to glance at the times and the men. SAMUEL SACKET+ entered the ministry at the moment when the great religious awakening that accompanied Whitefield's labours had reached its height. He was ordained by the Presbytery of New Brunswick, of which William Tennent and his sons were now the leading spirits. The Presbytery sent him into Westchester Coun- ty to perform a missionary work, for which he was
* Town Records of Bedford, No. 2, p. 137.
+ Born in Newtown, L. I., in 1712. Married Hannah, daughter of Nathanael Hazard, of New York, 6 April, 1732. Ordained by New Brunswick Presbytery, 13 Oct., 1741, and sent to preach in Westchester Co., N. Y., at Crompond-now Yorktown-and Cort- land Manor. Installed pastor of Bedford Church, 12 Oct., 1743. Called in 1753 to Hanover or Crompond, where he died 5 June, 1784, aged seventy-two years.
59
HISTORY OF BEDFORD CHURCH.
well fitted. He was a man of burning zeal- " one of the most enthusiastic Methodists," an un- friendly witness calls him .* It was the period of the division of the Presbyterian Church-the " schism " of 1741. Sacket took sides with the ex- treme left-to use a modern phrase-the progres- sives, the " new lights," as they were then termed. The preaching of these men was earnest, evangeli- cal, but too often bitter and denunciatory. In Connecticut they met with little favour. It was a time of great religious torpor throughout New Eng- land. Those who sympathized with the revival, dissatisfied with this pervading apathy, separated, in many cases, from the Consociated churches, and formed distinct congregations. Such a move- ment had occurred in Bedford, greatly weakening the church, during the early years of Sacket's pas- torate. He succeeded in drawing back a number of the Separatists ; and the church appears to have enjoyed seasons of religious refreshment under his ministry. But the people were conservative, dis- trustful of new measures, attached to the " half- way covenant;" the zeal and the strictness of their "New Light" Minister displeased them ; and they asked to have the pastoral relation dis- solved.
His successor, ELIPHALET BALL, + was a man of
* History of the Prot. Episc. Church in Westchester Co., N. Y., by R. Bolton, p. 621.
+ A native of New Haven, Conn. Graduated at Yale College in 1748, and ordained probably by one of the Connecticut Associa-
I753. 4 April.
60
HISTORY OF BEDFORD CHURCHI.
kindred spirit. Like Sacket, he held with Ed- wards and Bellamy in his theology, and in his views of experimental religion ; and like Sacket he met with opposition on the part of the " Old Side " members of his congregation. In 1756 he wrote to Bellamy, begging him to come and preach in his parish, and promising to spend a week with him in visiting the regions round about. His " natural turn " led him sometimes into hasty and arbitrary action ; and the help of the Presbytery was repeat- edly invoked,* to settle difficulties between the pastor and the Session.+ In 1763, “ understanding that the Church in Bedford laboured under great Difficulties, as well by the Death of one of their Elders, as from the withdrawing of another, one Mr Daniel Haight, who had turn'd Anabaptist, whereby the Church was left without a proper Number of Elders, and could not be prevailed with at present to chuse any more," the Presbytery ap-
tions. Installed Pastor of Bedford Church, 2 Jan., 1754. Dis- missed 21 Dec., 1768. Removed to " the Five Mile Square"-now Ballston, Saratoga County, New York-in 1770. Died there in 1797. He is said to have been distantly related to General Wash- ington.
Some of these charges are recited by Webster, Hist. of the Presb. Church in America, p. 657 ; but inasmuch as the Presbytery found the complaints to be groundless, they are unworthy of the prominence that has been given to them.
+ The Elders representing Bedford Church in the Presbytery of Dutchess County, from the date of the formation of that Presbytery, 27 October, 1762, until the close of Mr. Ball's pastorate, 21 De- cember, 1768, were Ebenezer Miller, John Lawrence, and Joshua Ambler.
1754. 2 January.
61
HISTORY OF BEDFORD CHURCH.
pointed a committee to consider the state of things, and make report at their next meeting. In 1764, Mr. Ball and his Elder referred to the Presbytery a case "touching the Interest of some Monies, arising from the sale of some Parsonage Lands, sold before Mr Ball's settlement in this Place," which the Elder refused to pay. In 1766, a peti- tion was offered " by a Number of Persons belong- ing to the Church and Congregation in Bedford, desiring that the Revd Mr Ball, their present Pas- tor, might be dismissed from his Pastoral Relation to that Church and people ; at the same time al- ledging nothing against. Mr Ball's moral Character, only representing that there were some particular uneasinesses existing among them, which rendered the success of his Ministry dubious among that People." Finding, however, that " a Majority of the People were yet for his Continuance, and ob- serving the Christian Tenderness that appeared between the parties," the Presbytery was of opin- ion that " some healing Measures should yet be pursued to make up their present unhappy Breach,"' and advised the pastor to call the con- gregation together to consult and act with refer- ence to their condition. In 1767, a minority of the congregation complained that the Church Ses- sion had dismissed two of the Elders from office. The Presbytery judged that " a Church Session had power to purge its own Body," yet advised that this action be reconsidered, and that if it should appear upon the whole to be for the best, the E !-
1764.
62
HISTORY OF BEDFORD CHURCH.
1767.
1768. 21 December.
ders be restored. This course did not satisfy the complainants, who appealed to the Synod. At the next meeting of the Synod of Philadelphia, 27th May, 1767, the complaint was presented by Mr. John Lawrence, Elder: but was dismissed as trivial, and the conduct of the dissatisfied party, " in absenting themselves from public worship, on so slender a foundation," was pronounced unjusti- fiable. The difficulties which had been pending so long, culminated however in the following year, when the Presbytery met at Bedford. " A Petition was prefer'd by Mr Ball, requesting a Dismission from his pastoral Relation." After duly consid- ering the reasons for and against granting this request, the Presbytery "judged it most for the Glory of God, the Interest of Religion, and best Good of that Church and people that the pastoral Relation be dissolved, and do dissolve it accord- ingly." Mr. Ball was recommended as a Minister of the Gospel in good standing to the churches wherever God in His providence might call him ; and the Presbytery " being sensible of the broken and melancholly Circumstances of the Church and Congregation in this place," did "earnestly recom- mend to every one of them to forget and forgive all former Broils and Disputes, and unitedly join to seek and pursue the Things which make for Peace."
Our accounts of Eliphalet Ball, after his resigna- tion of this pastoral charge, have hitherto been sin- gularly confused and inaccurate. It has been rep-
1
63
1770 to J797-
HISTORY OF BEDFORD CHURCH.
resented * that he came back to Bedford in 1772, and resumed the care of this Church, in the ab- sence of Mr. Mills, who had succeeded him in the pastoral office : that he remained here until 1784, and after spending four years in Woodbridge, Con- necticut, removed in 1788 with a part of the Bed- ford congregation to Saratoga County, in this State. The truth is, however, that this removal occurred nearly twenty years earlier, and very soon after Mr. Ball's departure from Bedford ; and that he never returned to this Church.t It was in the year 1770 that with his family he went from this region to the locality which became known by his name, as Ball's Town, or Ballston. Here a settle- ment had been recently commenced by two broth- ers, Michael and Nicholas McDonald. From these proprietors, Mr. Ball received the appropri- ation of a tract of four hundred acres of land, as an inducement to come and bring with him a com- pany of his former parishioners. Among the early settlers of Ballston, we find the names of John Holmes, Dr. Elisha Miller, Beriah Palmer, David
* Webster, History of the Presb. Church in America, p. 658 .- Gillett, History of the Presb. Church in the U. S., Vol. I., p. 151. -Bolton, History of Westchester Co., N. Y., revised edition, Vol. I., p. 51.
+ The impression that he did return may have arisen from a mistaken reading of an entry in the minutes of the Presbytery of Dutchess County, 8 Oct., 1783, when the people of Bedford made representations to the Presbytery regarding " Mr. Mills' [not Mr. Ball's] return to them ;" Mr. Mills having been absent from Bed- ford since the burning of the Church and parsonage, 2 July, 1779.
64
HISTORY OF BEDFORD CHURCH.
I775 to
I797.
Clark, Samuel Wood, Isaac How, John Bell, Uriah Benedict, Nathan Raymond, Stephen and Epenetus White, Nathanael Weed, and others, who probably belonged to this company of emigrants from Bed- ford .* On the twenty-second day of September, 1775, the inhabitants of Ballston met, and united in a church relation, under the ministry of Mr. Ball, and upon the basis of the standards of the Church of Scotland.+ A house of worship was built upon the southwest corner of the Minister's farm, and here he preached for several years. His pastorate, however, had terminated in April, 1783, when he was succeeded by the Reverend Ebenezer Martin. At this period Mr. Ball removed from Ballston-perhaps leaving his family there-and came to Woodbridge, Connecticut, where he offici- ated as Minister of the Congregational Church in that place from December, 1783, until the year 1790 .¿ He then returned to Ballston, and re- mained there until his death in 1797; but he did not resume the pastoral charge of the Church, al- though his name appears occasionally as moderator during vacancies in the pastorate. He continued a member of the Presbytery of Dutchess Coun- ty, although never present at its sessions until
* History of Saratoga County, New York, by N. B. Sylvester, Philadelphia : 1878. Town of Ballston, pp. 246, 250.
+ An Historical Sketch of the Presbyterian Church of Ballston Centre, N. Y. By the Pastor, Alex. S. Hoyt, Ballston, N. Y., I876.
¿ Contributions to the Eccl. History of Conn., p. 514.
65
- HISTORY OF BEDFORD CHURCH.
May, 1786. In 1776, his absence from the autumn meeting of the Presbytery was excused, in view of " the Circumstances of that part of the Country where Mr Ball Dwells, and the difficulties of the present times." While in Woodbridge, he con- nected himself with the New Haven Association.
Mr. Ball was a man of indomitable energy, and as a leader both in civil and in ecclesiastical mat- ters was highly esteemed in the community to which he gave his name. His children, like him- self, were pronounced patriots, one of his sons serving during the war of the Revolution as a colonel in the army .*
SAMUEL MILLS, the ninth Minister of this church, was the sont of the Reverend Jedidiah Mills, for fifty-seven years pastor of Ripton-now Hunting- ton-Connecticut .. He was graduated at Yale College in 1765, and was licensed by Fairfield East Association on the thirty-first of May, 1768. The Presbytery of Dutchess County, upon dissolving
1769.
' * Mr. Ball's sons were John, Stephen, and Flamen. His wife's name was Elizabeth. His daughter, Mary, became the wife of General James Gordon. John was a colonel in the army, and was in active service. " He was in the relief party under General Arnold, that marched to the aid of Fort Stanwix." Flamen, the youngest son, was graduated at Yale College in 1787, and became a lawyer in the city of New York, where he died. His son, Flamen, of Cincinnati, formerly law partner of Chief Justice Chase, and United States District Attorney under President Lincoln's admin- istration, is still living, at the age of seventy-two .- The Ballston Journal, I Oct., 1881.
+ "Son to the Revd Mr Mills of Ripton in Connecticut." Records of the Presbytery of Dutchess County, p. 48.
4
66
HISTORY OF BEDFORD CHURCH.
the pastoral relation between Eliphalet Ball and the people of Bedford, advised them to apply for the services of Mr. Mills, who accepted their call, 13 December, and was duly ordained by the Presbytery, con- 176g. jointly with a council of the Ministers of Fairfield County. During the first years of Mr. Mill's pas- torate, the church appears to have recovered in a measure from the " broken and melancholy " con- dition in which he had found it. He had been the unanimous choice of the people, and their at- tachment to him seems to have been unwavering to the last. But the outbreak of the Revolution made it exceedingly difficult for the Ministers of the Gospel, in this exposed region, to pursue their work. The records of the Presbytery, however, show that in spite of these difficulties, the pastor of Bedford Church was present at its sessions with an Elder, almost invariably, for nine successive years- from December, 1769, to November, 1778 .* For the next two years and a half, the meetings of that body were interrupted by the war. Meanwhile Mr. Mills had been forced to remove from Bedford tempor- arily. His removal probably occurred at the time
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.