USA > New York > Columbia County > History of Columbia County, New York. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 80
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On the 12th of November, 1820, the church adopted the Presbyterian form of goverment, with a proviso that if any member were so elected he might avail himself of the benefits attaching to the Congregational system. Elisha Gilbert, Abram Seward, Joseph Bailey, Isaae Salls, Zalmon Skinner, Abel Judson, and Robert M. Bailey were chosen ruling elders, and Zalmon Skinner deacon.
The church was received into the presbytery of Columbia county, and continued Presbyterian in form about twenty years. A portion of the members then assumed the name and privileges of a separate Congregational society, yet continuing to worship in the same house and employing a pastor conjointly with the Presbyterians. This arrange- ment still prevails. The present ruling elders are Silas Churchill and C. W. Bacon. The Congregational deacons are John Kendall, Fred. W. Hill, Pardee Carpenter, and Daniel Clark Warner.
The pastoral office of the church was filled until 1845 by the Rev. Silas Churchill, who maintained that relation more than fifty years. Subsequent pastors have been Revs. Charles J. Knowles, Robert Day, Thomas S. Bradley, John MeVey, D. K. Millard, and George E. McLean, who ter- minated his connection January, 1877. Since then the pulpit has been supplied by Dr. Belden, and at present by Rev. Thomas M. Gray.
In 1827 the evangelist Finney labored with the church and produced a remarkable revival, which largely augmented the membership. Other occasions of special interest fol- lowed, and in 1875 a revival ensued which gave the church fifty-nine new members. The present membership of the combined churches is nearly two hundred.
THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH AND SOCIETY IN NEW LEBANON.
Baptist preaching was held in New Lebanon, before 1776, by Rev. Joseph Meacham, who organized a church soon after. Upon Meacham's joining the Shakers, in 1780, many of his members followed him, and the Baptist church was practically disbanded. In 1820, Elder Nathaniel Otis began his missionary work in this locality, and succeeded in forming a society, March 10, 1825. The trustees chosen were Paul Shumway, Jeremiah Gillet, Spencer Carr, Hamp- ton C. Babcock, A. Brown, Henry Hull, George Landon, IIenry Stanton, and William N. Bentley.
The church was formally recognized June 1, 1826, at a council called for this purpose, which assembled at " Co- lumbia Hall." The constituent membership of the new
body were Elder Richmond Taggart, Henry Hull, Wil- liam N. Bentley, Aroin Wood, Ephraim Pierce, Sylvester Smith, Spencer Carr, William Kendall, William Webster, Israel Clark, and twelve females.
Nov. 23, 1826, Warren Merrill and wife were baptized and joined the church, being the first to receive that holy rite.
A plain meeting-house was erected at Lebanon Springs in 1827, which was rebuilt in 1868, at a cost of $6000. It is very neatly finished and presents a fine appearance. There are sittings for two hundred and fifty persons. The house was formally dedicated in the fall of 1868, by Rev. Watson, of Pittsfield, Mass.
As already stated, Rev. Richmond Taggart was the first pastor. His snecessors in the ministerial office were Revs. Justus Hull, Edwin Sandays, Solomon Hatch, N. M. Wood, S. B. Willis, G. S. Stockwell, Edward Conover, Asher Bronson, Philip Roberts, B. L. Van Buren, E. T. Hunt, A. Waterbury, J. W. Robinson, J. D. Meeson, and (1878) Edgar Maryott. Edwin Sandays and Edward Conover served the church twice as pastors. Of the above named, N. M. Wood, B. L. Van Buren, and J. W. Robinson began their ministerial work in this church, having been here ordained. There were besides the following licenti- ates : Joseph Taggart, Horace Doolittle, William Doolittle, Alonzo Wadhams, Philander Pierce, and Olney J. Rose.
The entire number of members received into the church by baptism has been one hundred and ninety. The present membership is ninety-five, and under the tutelage of the Rev. Maryott the church is in a flourishing condition.
The deacons from the formation of the church to the present have been Henry Hull, Ephraim Pierce, Spencer Carr, Ambrose Sanford, Elias D. Dike, Joseph Bates, Clark B. Goodrich, Josiah Waite, Sherman Hand, John T. Horton, Charles H. Spencer, Charles F. Shumway, and Jonathan D. Hull. The clerks, Henry Hull, William Kendall, Amos Chatman, Harvey Cole, Ambrose Sanford, Joseph Bates, and Jonathan D. Hull.
The present trustees are C. Spencer, J. Shumway, II. Parsons, J. D. Hull, C. Hemingway, J. II. Clark, Joseph Bates, Franklin Hand, and William Hand.
Adelbert Rogers is the superintendent of a good Sabbath- school connected with the church.
THIE FIRST METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF NEW LEBANON.
The missionary efforts of the Methodists extended to New Lebanon as early as 1820, services being held at the homes of the members and in school-houses. Later it became a regular appointment in connection with adjoining circuits, the ministry of that period being Revs. Howe, Hazelton, Cooper, and Thomas Kendall, a local preacher. Among the early members were Joseph Cole, John Gard- ner, Ezra Spier, Sr., David Fellows, Jesse Hand, William Hunt, Pliny Gould ; and later, Elias Richmond, Marshall Sherman, Alfred Webster, Lyman Johnson, and Thomas W. Sloan.
On the 15th day of May, 1835, a legal organization was effected, and Ezra G. Spier, William Haight, and Oran Tieknor chosen as trustees. A meeting-house was erected
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HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
a few miles south of West Lebanon, which was used until about 1870. Services were also held in what was known as the " Christian Union" church, in the hamlet of West Lebanon. This house became the sole property of the Methodists about 1872, since which regular services in town have been confined to this house. It was remodeled in 1864, and is now a comfortable place of worship. The church is estimated worth $4000, and the parsonage $800. The society is at present connceted with several appoint- ments in Rensselaer county in forming a cirenit, which is served by the Rev. Caleb A. Stevens. The present mem- bers number one hundred and sixty-eight, not including thirty probationers.
The pastoral connection since 1837, when New Lebanon became a separate charge, has been as follows: Revs. D. Starks, William M. Chipps, W. D. Stead, Thomas Kirley, Peter M. Hitchcock, Renben Westcott, D. Crowl, John W. Belknap, Aaron Hall, R. Washburne, A. Richards, Adam Jones, Thomas MeMaster, A. Dixon, John Harwood, Rufus Pratt, Elisha B. Huff, Merritt B. Mead, Asaph Shurtleff, William F. Hurd, David Osgood, E. Morgan, Daniel Rose, W. J. Sands, W. W. Foster, Eri Baker, C. C. Bedell, E. A. Braman, E. A. Blanchard, W. W. Whitney, and the present pastor.
Two Sunday-schools are maintained, having a member- ship of two hundred scholars.
THE CHURCH OF OUR SAVIOUR (PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL) OF NEW LEBANON.
The services of this body were first held, in the summer seasons from 1835 to 1845, by Dr. David Butler, of Troy, but no effort was made to found a society until 1869. In the fall of that year a room was secured in the public school building at Lebanon Springs, which was fitted up for the services of the Episcopal church, and Rector E. L. Wells, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, invited to minister to those who preferred that form of service. The first meet- ing, held October 3, created so much interest that Bishop Doane, of Albany, organized New Lebanon as a mission, to be supplied by the Rev. Wells, in connection with his parish. These services were not fruitless. The mission became a parish May 10, 1871, having the following official board: Rector, Rev. J. T. Webster; Wardens, E. C. King, W. H. Babcock ; Vestrymen, John B. Gale, J. G. Field, Silas G. Owen, Matthew J. Jones, and Elam T. Tanner. The rectorship of Mr. Webster was of short duration, fail- ing health compelling his resignation before the close of the summer. In October, 1871, the Rev. William T. Early became the rector, serving the parish until 1872. He was succeeded by the Rev. James Hoyt Smith, who became the rector in November, 1872, and remained a year and a half. After a vacancy of a few months the parish called the Rev. Joseph Hooker to the rectorship, July 12, 1874, and he has since maintained that relation. Under his tutelage the work of the parish has become fully established. It now numbers twenty families, furnishing sixty communicants, of whom thirty-four are in regular attendance. The ser- vices of the church are yet held in the school-house chapel, which has been made comfortable for this purpose. An effort to build a house of worship between New Lebanon
and the Springs was suspended after the foundation was laid, on account of the stringency of the times. It will probably be completed at an early day.
The official parish members at present are: Rector, Rev. Joseph Hooper; Wardens, Silas G. Owen, W. H. Babcock ; Vestrymen, E. C. King, J. G. Field, Hampton C. Bull, Francis Myer, and E. T. Tanner.
THE CHURCH OF THE "IMMACULATE CONCEPTION" (ROMAN CATHOLIC) OF NEW LEBANON.
Catholicity was introduced into New Lebanon about 1868, the services being supplied from the Chatham village parish. Measures were instituted the following year to ereet a church, and on the 3d of October, 1869, the corner-stone was laid by Bishop Conroy, on a lot a short distance west from New Lebanon. A large and substantial brick edifice, costing nearly $14,000, was dedicated by the same bishop, June 18, 1871. The church continued to be served by the priest of the Chatham parish, Rev. James J. Moriarty, until Sept. 24, 1874, when, in connection with Malden Bridge and Stephentown, it became a new parish. The communicants, numbering several hundred, are under the spiritual tutelage of the Rev. J. J. Brennan.
In the New Britain neighborhood is a meeting-house be- longing to the Christian church, in which worship a society numbering thirty members. Rev. C. W. Havens, of the Red Rock church, fills the pastoral office.
THE EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS
of the town have received an unusual degree of attention, not only in the support of common schools, but in the es- tablishment of academies and seminaries. Sixteen districts were formed by the school board in 1819, which number is still maintained. In 1878 these reported seven hundred and forty-nine children of school age, from which an aver- age attendance of two hundred and seventy-two pupils was seenred. The town has several comfortable school build- ings, the one at New Lebanon being especially notable for the architectural taste displayed in its construction.
One of the first academies in these parts was instituted at the suggestion of Jarvis Mudge, who set aside a lot of ground for this purpose, at Lebanon Springs, about 1784. This lot is now owned by H. B. Sanford. A stock company erected a building and opened a school, which was patron- ized by the youth from the leading families. Many of these young men became distinguished in State and national affairs. The academy building was destroyed by fire while used for other purposes. At the same time a brand from the burn- ing academy set fire to the "Navarino House," in which was a boarding-school, conducted by a Mr. Hubbard. The bell formerly used on the old academy is still employed in the belfry of the school building at the Springs.
Some time about 1800, Dominie Booge had a select school in the northern part of the town, in which he fitted young men for college.
THE WYOMANOCK SEMINARY
was established as a boarding-school for young ladies, in 1858, by Miss E. C. Hatch. For its accommodation a hotel building, east from West Lebanon, was used, being
Photos. by J. R. Allis, Chatham, N. Y.
SAMUEL HAND.
SAMUEL HAND.
IRA HAND.
Samuel Hand, named after his grandfather and great- grandfather, was a son of Ira Hand, whose portrait and biography also appear in this work. Samuel Hand was next to the youngest of seven children of Ira and Martha (Rose) Hand, viz., Franklin, Frederick, Hiram, Chauncey, Chloe, Samuel, and Herman Hand, all of whom, except Samuel and Frederick, are still living.
Samuel Hand was born July 14, 1833, on the home- stead now occupied by his brother Franklin. He was reared as a farmer, and besides attending the common schools had the advantages of home instruction, his father being a well-informed man, and delighting to impart his knowledge on various subjects, especially on mathematics, to his family as they were gathered around him in the winter evenings. The faculty for mathematics and kindred branches of mechanism was a prevailing trait in the early members of the family and has been inherited by their descendants. Ira Hand had a natural genius in this direction, and so aided his children in their studies that in this branch they excelled in their school recitations. Sam- uel, besides attaining a good English education, had a strong natural taste for the beautiful, which was displayed in the neatness and beauty of his handwriting and in the taste manifested in fitting up and adorning his home. For the enjoyments and pastimes of domestic and social life he had a strong attachment, having been brought up to spend his
evenings and leisure hours at home with the family. This habit, rigidly inculcated in his boyhood days, became a second nature in his after-life. He was possessed of a genial disposition, warm friendship, and kindly sympathies, being especially at home in attending and caring for the sick.
He was united in marriage to Mary A. Lord, daughter of Bernard H. Lord, of Nassau, Rensselaer county, Decem- ber 30, 1863. He continued to live at the homestead where he was born till February 1, 1864, when he removed with his wife to that portion of the original estate of his grandfather at Lebanon Springs, where he resided till his death, which occurred February 25, 1871, in his thirty- eighth year, leaving Laura Grace and Samuel Waddams, his only two children, the latter of whom soon followed him, departing this life July 27, 1872. Mrs. Hand survives to mourn his loss ; but her bereavement is tempered by the consciousness of his upright life, and the high esteem and confidence reposed in him by all who knew him. He was a man of generous and noble impulses, and his life was governed by principles of integrity and honor. He was always ready to lend a helping hand to enterprises for the good of society, and although not a church member himself he was active in aiding the interests of the church where he lived, and on whose board he served as trustee. He had little interest in politics beyond casting his vote at elections, and never sought nor held office.
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HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
afterwards enlarged to meet the growing demands of the school. Miss Hatch was a teacher of great worth and in- fluence, whose school was soon favored with a large patron- age, enabling her to graduate many students yearly. In 1865 the seminary was incorporated, and a board of trns- tees appointed, embracing, among others, the leading citi- zens of the town. After this the institution was even more prosperous, but the destruction of the buildings by fire, Jan. 6, 1869, suddenly checked this prosperity. In a few months the seminary was again opened, in the Pelton man- sion at New Lebanon, under the name of "Sunnyside," and continued by Miss Ilatch until July, 1870. For the next few years it was condneted as a day-school by the Misses Delevan, but in 1875 Wyomanock Seminary was re-established by the Misses Wood in the fine Tilden hotel building. The arrangements of the honse adapt it admir- ably for school purposes, and by judicions management the former high character of Wyomanock may be regained by the new school.
THE LEARNED PROFESSIONS
were early and ably represented in New Lebanon. Among the first physicians were Doctors Johnson, Hall, and Baker, but of whose professional standing nothing has been aseer- tained. Dr. Moses Younglove was quite prominent in his time, and especially skillful in his treatment of smallpox and kindred diseases. Before vaccination was discovered he had a pest-house, to which patients resorted in large numbers. Equally prominent was Dr. John Merriman, who located here about 1800, and who died in town. Doc- tors Isaac Everest and Esek King were in practice soon
after. In 1818, Dr. H. D. Wright located at New Leb- anon, where he yet resides, although not in active practice, and soon became a leading physician and preceptor of a number of young men who attained eminent places in the profession. Among others Dr. Peabody, of the Sandwich Islands, Dr. Cole, of Pittsfield, Mass., Dr. Lorenzo Gile, of Canaan, and Dr. Wm. C. Bailey, of Chatham, were under his instruction. The well-known and able Dr. Joseph Bates and his son, Xiris T., are also residents of this town. Other physicians have been Doetors Hyde, Salmon, Hand, King, Day, and the present Dr. Peirce. The Shakers have had several able physicians, Dr. Garrett K. Lawrence being one of the most prominent.
A number of the gifted sons of New Lebanon became distinguished at the bar, and have filled various State and national positions with conspicnons honor and ability. Foremost among these is Gov. Samuel J. Tilden, whose life and services are detailed in a separate sketch in this book. Ex-Attorney-General Williams is also a native of this town. The late Hon. R. H. Gillet was one of the most honored and unobtrusive men that ever graced State and national councils. The names of Hons. Edwin Doo- little, R. B. Andrews, Phineas Hitchcock, and Fred. T. Best, all of whom have attained distinction, are highly cherished in New Lebanon for the worth which they have reflected upon their native town. In practice as attorneys in the town were Alanson King. John Bull, Flavel J. Booge, Wm. H. Tobey, and Geo. J. Bull, the latter having been the last resident attorney.
MASONIC.
UNITY LODGE, NO. 9,
located at Lebanon Springs, was instituted in 1788. The application for a warrant bears the names of Eleazer Grant, John Darling, Elihu Phinney, John Noyes, Wm. Powers, John W. Schermerhorn, James Wylie, Nathan Hand, Sam- uel Wheeler, Daniel Green, William Johnson, and Ephraim Hunt. The warrant issued Sept. 18, 1788, designates Eleazer Grant as W. M .; John Darling, S. W. ; and Elihu Phinney, J. W. At that time Robert Livingston was the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the State, and Hud- son and Albany were the neighboring lodges. North ward there was no lodge nearer than Montreal. The Master and Senior Warden were properly installed at Albany, in De- cember, and on the 2d of February, 1789, at a meeting held in the house of Casparns Hewson, Elisha Gilbert, Lewis and Levi Preston became the first initiates.
About 1794 an arrangement was entered into with Ma- jor Elisha Gilbert, whereby a room in the house which he was then building was secured for lodge purposes. For many years this afforded a comfortable place of meeting, where friendly feeling and good cheer prevailed. It was customary in those times to refresh the brethren coming from a distance with the substantials of life, and to pledge themselves anew in the flowing bowl. As far as can be learned, no inebriety resulted, as the spirits were not so evil disposed then as now. The lodge was in good repute, and suon had a large membership, numbering, in 1796, one hundred and fifteen, among them being the most prominent citizens of the town.
In the fall of 1796 twenty-four members withdrew to form the Canaan Lodge, at New Concord, and four years later twelve more left with John W. Schermerhorn to or- ganize a new lodge at Nassan. In a year sixteen others withdrew to build up a new lodge at Stephentown, leaving the membership of Unity at forty-five.
The Masters up to this period were: 1788-93, Eleazer Grant ; 1794, Elihn Phinney ; 1795, Ephraim Hunt; 1796, Eleazer Grant; 1797, Nathan Hand; 1798-99, Elisha Gilbert; 1800, Daniel Green ; 1801, Seth Hill.
From this time until the auti-Masonic times the increase of membership was small, and the history of the lodge un- eventful. For the next ten years but one meeting per annum was held,-simply to preserve the organization.
In 1844 it was deemed advisable to resume the regular meetings. From the minutes of the first meeting it appears that but nine members were left, viz. : Elisha Gilbert, John Bull, Jr., John Murdock, David Harrington, Allen Spen- cer, Josiah Wait, Charles W. Hull, Elias Gates, and Isaac Salls. All of these were old or middle-aged men, who had an abiding faith in the future of Masonry in New Lebanon. Their belief was not groundless. Unity Lodge has not only lived but prospered. Many of its members have become prominent in Masonic cireles, notably Grand Chaplain Churchill, Grand Master Joseph Enos, Grand King Elisha Gilbert, Grand High Priest Benjamin Enos, Grand Scribe Ebenezer Wadsworth, and Grand Marshal John Bull.
Since 1872 the lodge has held its meetings in the hand- some hall in the Gay block, and has enjoyed uninterrupted
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HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
prosperity, being at present one of the most flourishing lodges in the county.
LEBANON ROYAL ARCH CHAPTER, NO. 13,
at Lebanon Springs, was chartered Feb. 3, 1802, but worked under a dispensation a short time before that period. As carly as 1798 those advanced in Masonic degrees held meetings as Master Mark Masons, the lodge having had eighty members when the chapter was formed.
The first elective officers of Chapter No. 13 were Elisha Gilbert, H. P .; John Butler, K .; Samuel F. Jones, S .; and the companions were Daniel Green, Joseph Enos, Zenas Barker, Silas Churchill, Seth Hill, and Zalmon Skinner.
From 1827 to 1840 the meetings of the chapter were suspended on account of the hostile feeling towards Ma- sonry. An effort to revive the chapter was not imme- diately successful, and it was not until Feb. 5, 1852, that the Grand Chapter authorized such a movement, and appointed Josiah Waite, H. P .; Henry Hull, K. ; and Charles W. Hull, S. The chapter at once called to its membership many prominent Masons, and quickly advanced to a position which has given it a conspicuous place among the fraternity. Its meetings are held in Masonic Hall, at Lebanon Springs.
In the preparation of the foregoing the writer has been much assisted by Hampton C. Bull, Esq., and he expresses himself especially obligated to that gentleman for these and many other favors received at his hands.
THE MILITARY HISTORY.
The carly settlers of the town took an active interest in the struggle for independence. Mention has already been made of some who aided the patriot cause,* and in addition appear the names of Asa Evans, Cornelius Earle, Ezra Gates, Seba Moses, Ezekiel Merrill, Zena Goodrich, Eliah Perkins, Peleg Spencer, and Nathan Young, as pensioners in 1840.
During the late civil war the town aided the government by promptly filling the quotas assigned her. A notable war-meeting was held Aug. 4, 1864, when a large tax was voted to be disbursed to volunteers by Marvin Sackett, Benjamin Perry, Anson S. Carpenter, David B. Campbell, Ira Hand, Allen B. Davis, John Campbell, John B. Gillet, and Win. T. Pelton.
A list of soldiers credited to the town in the War of 1861-65 will be found elsewhere in this work.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
THE HAND FAMILY.
The great-grandfather of the present representatives of the Hand family of New Lebanon, Hon. Samuel Hand, was in many respects one of the most remarkable men among the pioneers of this section of the country. He left records by which the genealogy of the family can be
traced back several hundred years. They came from Eng- land and settled on Long Island about 1640. The first ancestor who came to this country returned to England to get his portion of some property which he was heir to there, and was murdered on his return voyage to Long Island. He left two sons as his survivors, and from them sprang the family by the name of Hand on this continent. The name of one of these was Joseph Hand, who was father of a son by the same name, who was father of Stephen Hand, who also had a son named Joseph, who was the father of Samuel Hand, of whose life this sketch is chiefly a partial record. He was born in old Guil- ford, Conn., in 1736, his father, Joseph Hand, having re- moved there from Long Island. When he was about seventeen years of age he was pressed into the English service, and became a soldier in the old French war. He served through four campaigns, and was with General Wolfe at the taking of Quebec. While in the service he had saved sufficient money to enable him to make a purchase of wild lands in what is now New Canaan, supposed then to be in the State of Massachusetts; but the establishment of the boundary line proved it to be in the State of New York, and covered by one of those numerous patents by which lands had been granted by the crown of England. He therefore lost his title, and was left penniless. But he was a man fruitful in resources and expedients. Possessing a natural mechanical genius,-a trait still prominent in some of his descendants,-and by the aid of a little knowledge of house-carpentering, he obtained employment one season in the navy-yard as ship-carpenter or to aid in the con- struction of vessels. Such was his close observation and readiness of resources that, by noting down in his memo- randum-book the steps taken in the construction of a vessel, he was able the next year to build a small sloop for himself, which he used for years to great profit in coasting and fishing, and afterwards sold to two men in Fairfield, Conn. So successful had been his brief experience in ship-building that he was hired to build a brig at Fair- field, but some circumstance induced him to try the land again instead of the sea; and before the month of Novem- ber had expired in which the brig was finished he pur- chased, in the town of Hancock, Mass., one hundred and fifty-five acres of wild land, upon which he removed with his family on the last day of April, 1767. His career in this wilderness was quite as remarkable as his former expe- rience had been. He remained here twenty years lacking one month, and cleared and cultivated two hundred and fifty acres of that heavily-timbered land, making himself a home, and an influence which extended beyond the borders of the State, and was recognized both at the capitol in Boston and Albany. For thirteen consecutive years he represented his portion of the old Bay State in the Legislature at Boston, was a justice of the peace, and the principal man in the settlement where he resided. As an illustration of his personal influence it may here be stated that, by a petition written by him to Governor George Clinton, of New York, he procured the reprieve of Caleb T. Gardner, tried and condemned to be hung for knowingly passing counterfeit money, after repcated efforts by the ablest counsel had failed to secure his pardon. The facts concerning this are
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