USA > New York > Livingston County > History of Livingston County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 37
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of hose, all serviceable. Since the completion of the village water works in 1874, they have amply supplied the water needed for fire purposes, with- out the use of fire engines. There are forty-five hydrants. The water pressure is ninety-five pounds to the square inch, and the force sufficient to throw a stream over the highest building in the village. H. Huver is foreman of the hook and ladder com- pany ; James McC. Edwards, of the hose com- pany ; and F. W. Krein, of the Protectives.
THE SQUARE .- In 1810, Nathaniel Rochester deeded to the "Union Society" some four acres of land, known as the village square, which is now used for church and school purposes, and the old cemetery grounds adjacent to it. These grounds possess a historie interest from their asso- ciation with the Indian tribe who once dwelt here, and should be kept inviolate as public grounds. As the Society to which they were deeded never had a legal existence, no absolute conveyance was made. The question of title was submitted to that eminent lawyer, John C. Spencer, who decided that it never passed from Mr. Rochester, and that at his death it rested in his heirs. As the citizens were opposed to buying grounds for a school-house site, this square was used for that purpose. The old building is still standing, having been removed from its original location a little north of the Epis- copal church. This square was successively occupied by the Methodists, Presbyterians, Epis- copalians, Lutherans and Catholics, each of whom have built churches upon it, though the former is now abandoned, and lastly by the village for a lock-up, engine house and gun house .*
THE DANSVILLE SEMINARY was incorporated by the Regents, Jan. 14, 1858, and opened in Septem- ber of that year, under the auspices of the East Genesee Conference of the Methodist Episcopal church, in a building rented for the purpose and now occupied by L. G. Ripley as a residence. The next year the school was removed to the second story of the large, unsightly brick building on the corner of Ossian and Spruce streets, which now forms the district school-house in the 2d school dis- trict. There it was continued until Jan. 1, 1860, when the seminary building-the brick structure- charmingly situated on the east hill-side, was so far completed as to admit of its occupancy, and it was removed to it.
The first principal was Rev. Schuyler Seager, a member of the East Genesee Conference. His * Statement of L. B. Proctor of Dansville ; and The Dansville Adver tiser of August 12, 1880.
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
successors have been Rev. John J. Brown, now a Professor in Syracuse University, Rev. Joseph Jones, Rev. Mr. Crumb, Henry Sanford, Albert Lewis, who was a graduate of McGill College, Montreal, and the last of the Conference ap- pointees, J. C. Foley, now practicing law in New York city, -, Samuel H. Goodyear, who retired at the close of the academic year in June, 1880, and G. S. Miller, the present incum- bent.
Since the conference withdrew its patronage, the Seminary has been conducted by individuals who receive the tuitions as their compensation, and until the close of the last year, the faculty have paid the interest on the Seminary indebtedness, which, as reported in 1871, the latest report at hand, was $500. Notwithstanding the laxness which has prevailed in its management, the Semi- nary has been maintained on a highly creditable basis. Its patronage is drawn largely from the village and surrounding country, the neglected condition of the village public school making it an acceptable substitute. The present attendance (September, ISSo,) is about 100, which is less than the average of former years by 30 to 50, and is only about one-half the attendance which has been reached. The school has always been under the visitation of the Regents.
The boarding hall connected with the Seminary was built in 1876. The corner-stone was laid June 22, 1876. It is a wooden structure, and will well accommodate 200 students. The original cost of the property was about $20,000.
The prime movers in the projection of the Sem- inary were Dr. B. L. Hovey, Judge and Ilon. S. Hubbard, Matthew McCartney. Charles Shepard, Hon. Isaac L. Endress, and Orville Tousey.
THE LIVINGSTON CIRCULATING LIBRARY, of Dansville, is the result of a project which was set on foot in the fall of 1872. Dec. 7, 1872, the pre- liminary work having been done by a number of energetic and public spirited persons, principally ladies, a meeting was convened at the residence of Mrs. E. Youngs, on Elizabeth street, for the pur- pose of organizing the forces which should there muster for the establishment of a village library. Jan. 13, 1873, the library was incorporated under the above name, the incorporators being : D. W. Noyes, 1. H. Dix, F. Fielder, A. O. Bunnell, M. M. Durkee, J. C. Foley, H. F. Dyer, A. D. Beach, S. N. Hedges, Thomas F. Gallagher, Mrs. E. M. Knowlton, Mrs. D. W. Noyes, Mrs. S. N. Hedges, Mrs. Sarah Baldwin, Mrs. H. F. Dyer, Miss D. B.
Bunnell, Kittie Bissell, Grace Hedges, Augustus Kern, Mary F. Bunnell, Ada H. Smith and Sallie McCurdy, who met at the residence of Daniel W. Noyes, in Dansville, and organized under the Act of June 17, 1853. Daniel W. Noyes, James H. Jackson, Frank Fielder, George A. Sweet, I. H. Dix, A. O. Bunnell, Thomas E. Gallagher, H. F. Dyer and Samuel D. Faulkner were named in the charter as the trustees for the first year. The cap- ital stock was $25,000, divided into 5,000 shares. The library was opened on Saturday evening, July 18, 1874, with Miss A. P. Adams as Librarian, a position she efficiently and acceptably filled some eighteen months. Her successor in that office is Mrs. M. L. Brayton, who was chosen January 12, 1876. The library now numbers 1, 150 volumes of well selected literature.
CHURCHES .- Just when and by whom the first church in Dansville was organized is a matter which is made obscure and uncertain by the various and unauthentic statements concerning it. The only authentic statement relative to it is the in- definite one contained in the letter of James Mc- Curdy, published in Clark's Miniature of Dans- ville, which says : "The first established preacher and founder of a church among us, was the Rev. Andrew Gray." We are left to conjecture, or at best to subsidiary evidence, to determine the time and place. Rev. Geo. K. Ward, who prepared a history of the Presbyterian church of Dansville in 1876, concludes that the Rev. Mr. Gray was settled here about 1812. But there is nothing to indicate directly the extent and result of his labors.
"The primitive settlers of Dansville," says Tur- ner, "were mostly Lutherans, or Dutch Reformed. The first meetings were held from house to house ; Frederick Barnhart or Adam Miller, usually taking the lead. The Rev. Mr. Markle, a Lutheran preacher from Geneva, occasionally visited the place, as did Elder Gray. The first located minis- ter was the Rev. Mr. Pratt. The Rev. Mr. Hub- bard, a son-in-law of Moses Van Campen, was an early settled minister."* "The early settlers of Dansville," says the Rev. Mr. Ward, before quoted, "were mainly of Presbyterian origin ; the MeNairs, Perines, McCurdys, McCartneys, Faulkners, Brad- ners and Hammonds were all of this stock, and hence it was quite in the natural sequence of events that the first religious body of importance should have been of this denomination." Ilotchkin, who does not mention an earlier one, says a P'resby- terian church denominated Dansville and Sparta, * Pioneer Ilistory of Phelps and Gorham's Purchase, 360.
VILLAGE OF DANSVILLE-CHURCHES.
was organized in 1819, or the early part of 1820. It was afterwards called Sparta First church, and was received under the care of the Presbytery of Ontario, Feb. Sth, 1820."* This probably has reference to the church three miles north of Dans- ville. which undoubtedly accommodated the Pres- byterians in this vicinity, as the churches in the sparsely settled country at that early period drew their members from a wide extent of territory. This supposition is confirmed by the fact that a Presbyterian church was formed in this village in 1825, and strengthened by the additional testimony of Hotchkin, who, in referring elsewhere to this vil- lage and its immediate vicinity, says : "The settlers were Yankees, Pennsylvanians and Germans, be- tween whom there was very little affinity, and the institutions of religion were for a long time almost totally neglected, and irreligion prevailed." +
The Presbyterian Church of Dansville was or- ganized March 25, 1825, by the following mem- bers of the Presbytery of Bath: Rev. James H. Hotchkin, Robert Hubbard and Stalham Clary, and was received under the care of that Presbytery August 30th of that year. The constituent mem- bers were eleven in number, nine of whom were members of the First church in Sparta, and two from the church in Buffalo. They were :- Wyllis F. Clark and Charity his wife, Samuel Shannon and Sarah his wife, Calvin E. Clark and Harriet his wife, Mrs. Mary Rowley, Mrs. Elizabeth Pickell, Nancy Pickell, Stephen Franklin and Sarah his wife. The church was placed under the care of Rev. Robert Hubbard, of Angelica, as stated supply. June 2, 1826, it was transferred by Act of the General Assembly to the Presbytery of Ontario. At that period it numbered thirty-two members.
The society worshipped in an old school-house which stood on the west side of Main street, on the vacant lot south of the Dansville house, and was afterwards removed to the rear of the Catholic church on Dutch street. It was the place of wor- ship of the Catholic society before. their church edi- fice was erected, and was subsequently used by them as a parochial school, but is now converted to and used as a barn. The Presbyterians afterwards found a convenient place of meeting in the new school-house which occupied the site of the Epis- copal church, and occupied it for some time after.
At this time Joshua Shepard generously donated to the society the lot now occupied in part by the post-office, and a thousand dollars toward erecting
" Hotchkin's History of W'estern .Vew York, 584. t Ibid, 584.
a church thereon. A church was accordingly built on that site and completed at a cost of $3,500. It was dedicated in 1831.
In 1834, Rev. Mr. Hubbard resigned his charge over this church and took charge of a church in Fowlerville. Rev. Elam H. Walker, in September, 1834, was ordained and installed pastor. In the early part of 1840, disaffection arose, and resulted in the formation of a separate church, which, by way of distinction, was denomi- nated the First church. The church was nearly equally divided, 56 remaining with Mr. Walker at the old church, and 66 separating and occupying what was termed the brick church, (an upper room in the Stevens block,) until they could build a new edifice, which was finished in 1842, at a cost of $4,000, and occupied until the reunion was effected Jan. 15, 1861, at the solicitation of the Presbytery, when the reunited church was given its former dis tinctive name " The Presbyterian Church of Dans- ville."
Rev. I. N. Hubbard supplied for the first six months the pulpit of the church formed by the seceding members, and was succeeded by Rev. Leveret Hull, who continued his labors as stated supply about two years. In November, 1842, Rev. D. N. Merrit was installed pastor and continued his labors till April, 1844. Rev. Joel Wakeman next supplied the pulpit for a few months. In the fall of 1844, Rev. W. F. Curry was installed pastor, and continued in that relation till March, 1849, when he was succeeded by Rev. C. L. Hequem- bourg, who was installed pastor and occupied the pulpit until July, 1853, when Rev. I. N. Hubbard was invited to supply the pulpit and continued his labors for four years. Rev. S. M. Campbell suc- ceeded him and supplied the pulpit one year, to 1858, when Rev. Dr. Seager, then principal of Dansville Seminary, was invited to supply the pul- pit, which he did till the winter of 1859, when Rev. Mr. Ford began his labors as stated supply and continued in that relation till 1860. He was suc- ceeded by Rev. Samuel Jessup, who was installed pastor in 1861, and during whose labors the re- union was effected.
Rev. Mr. Walker continued his labors with the other branch until his death, which occurred Jan- uary 11, 1849, at the age of 50 years. From the time of Mr. Walker's death until 1855, the pulpit was supplied by Revs. Powell, Parker, Ray and Hequembourg. each of whom labored about a year. March 31, 1854, their church edifice was destroyed by fire. For a time they occupied Canaseraga Hall,
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
and continued to hold their meetings there and at the Lutheran church until 1855, when Mr. Hequem- bourg's services closed. From that time to 186t they had no regular pastor or preaching. By the reunion both branches were brought under the pas- toral care of Rev. Mr. Jessup, who continued his ministrations until the spring of 1872. Mr. Jessup's administration was marked by a large and gratify- ing degree of prosperity. In 1867 he was permit- ted to behold the consummation of a project for which he had labored with untiring zeal and en- ergy-the building of a neat and commodious chapel for social, prayer and praise meetings, and the enlargement of the church edifice.
During the autumn and winter of 1871-2, Mr. Jessup laid aside his pastoral cares. In his absence the pulpit was very acceptably filled by Rev. Charles Ray, now publisher of the Moravia Citi- zen. Immediately after Mr. Jessup's resignation the pulpit was supplied for three months by Rev. Geo. K. Ward, who was succeeded by Rev. John Jones, D. D., of Geneseo, who labored as a supply for five months. Rev. John H. Brodt, formerly of Brooklyn, was then invited to fill the pulpit, which he did with universal acceptance for four months. The present pastor, Rev. Geo. K. Ward, entered upon his ministry the first Sabbath in May, 1873, and was ordained and installed June 4th of that year. The church numbers at present 317 mem- bers. In 1876, the church, which stands upon the square, was repaired at an expense of about $2,000 ; and in 1878, the chapel, which had before been de- tached from the church, was enlarged and brought into it, by an addition of about half its size, which, including furnishing, was completed at a cost of about $2,000. The Society are just arranging to purchase a parsonage, which the generosity of Mrs. Joseph W. Smith enables them to consummate. The old parsonage was sold many years ago. The Sabbath School was organized in June, 1820, and has been faithfully sustained to the present time. Dr. W. F. Clark was the first Superintendent, and served in that capacity for sixteen years .*
The Methodist Episcopal Church of Dansville. -The early records of this church have not been preserved, and there is not one of the old members left whose memory can be trusted to give a con- nected history of it. A few fragmentary facts only can be given, and these, mainly, are only the rec-
* This sketch is prepared mostly from Hotchkin's History of Western New York ; Turner's Pioneer History of Phelps and Gorham's Pur- chase ; and, mainly, from a history of the church prepared in 1866, by Cal- vin E. Clark, one of the eleven persons who organized it, and supple- mented in 1876, by Rev. Geo. K. Ward.
ollections of individuals. Dr. James Faulkner says there were Methodists in Dansville as early as 1811. The first Methodist meeting he knows of was held in the house where John Galbraith lives. Robert Parker preached occasionally in Peter Kuhn's neighborhood as early as 1812, '13 and '14 ; though there were but few Methodists here then. The first great impulse to the growth of Methodism in Dansville seems to have been given by the family of Merritt Brown, who came here in the fall of 1818, and, says Dr. Faulkner, did more than al- most any body else for the church when it was first built. He pays a high tribute to the worth of Mr. Brown and his wife, and says of the latter, " if she is not happy in the other world I would not give much for any one's chances of happiness there."
After Mr. Brown came here, he and others were active in getting up a subscription for a church. All denominations were very generous. But sev- eral years elapsed before their efforts were rewarded. Occasional meetings were held at Mr. Brown's house by Revs. Thomas Magee and Mr. Nash. In 1819 Rev. Micah Seager was preaching here. Commencing at Sparta, he preached every day in the week, his circuit of two weeks extending south- erly. Mr. Seager was the uncle of Rev. Dr. Schuyler Seager, the first principal of the Dansville Academy. He was assisted in his labors by Rev. Chester B. Adgate, who was afterwards the presid- ing elder of the district. They held meetings from time to time in the old log school house on Main street. " They would come," says Rev. Mr. Ward, " without a moment's warning, give notice of a meeting to be held a few hours later, and when the appointed hour arrived the house would be full of eager listeners." Mr. Adgate continued his labors two years and was followed on the circuit in 1821 by Rev. James Gilmore, who was succeeded by Rev. Mr. Prindle. In 1825, the Rev. Mr. House preached on this circuit, and in January of that year Rev. Gideon Stoddard held the first quarterly meeting in Dansville. Rev. Mr. Williams preached here in 1827. He was succeeded by Rev. Robert Parker, during whose labors $800 were raised by subscription to build a church, which was com- menced in 1828, and finished and dedicated in 1829. The dedication sermon was preached by Wilbur Hoag. It was erected and still stands on the square,* but was abandoned by the Methodists
*** The old M. E. Church which has stood for over fifty years on the public square, was sold last week for $300 to Burns brothers of this place, who will move it from the present site to the lot adjoining Bradley and Pfunter's marble shop, and fit it up for a carriage manufactory."-Dans- ville Advertiser, March 24, 1881.
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VILLAGE OF DANSVILLE-CHURCHES.
when their present fine house was finished in 1877. It was built over once or twice. About this time the Society was incorporated. The first trustees were Merritt Brown, Wm. Curtice and Benjamin Pickett. Mr. Parker was succeeded to the pastor- ate by John Copeland, now insane, and in 1831, by Thomas Carlton and Wm. 1). Buck.
During the pastorate of Rev. G. W. Coe, in 1876-7, the splendid brick edifice on Chestnut St., in which the Society now worship, was erected. The church was opened on Thursday, September 13, 1877. The cost aggregated $18,000, of which $8,000 was then unprovided for, but $6,000 of the amount was raised during the meetings of that day. To-day, the church numbers about two hundred and sixty members. The present pastor is Rev. J. T. Gracey, who has served them two years.
Moses George, who is probably the oldest mem- ber of this church, is the last survivor of the war of 1812, in Dansville. He entered the army at the age of eighteen and served three years. He was wounded, and carried on his body for about sixty-one years the bullet which inflicted the wound.
The German Evangelical Lutheran Church .- We are not advised when this church was organ- ized, but it was among the earliest in the village, and was the first to ereet a house of worship, the corner-stone of which was laid on the 4th of July, 1826. The ceremony attending it was participat- ed in by the Masonic fraternity of the village and surrounding towns, a military company and a large concourse of people. "Abraham Vrooman was the master builder, and in the eyes of the people," says the facetious historian of this church,* "a great, momentous undertaking was committed to him."
Late in November, 1826, the church was dedi- cated, under the pastorate of Rev. Jacob Martin, a young man, whose talents, piety and energy joined to many amiable traits of character, ren- dered his ministry useful and profitable. After preaching several years he accepted a call from a German Lutheran Church at Harrisburgh, Pa., where he died. After the retirement of Mr. Martin, the church had no settled pastor for two or three years, but the pulpit was occupied most of the time by Rev. Dr. Wells and Rev. Mr. Barnhart. The next minister in charge of the church, of which there is any record, was the Rev. David lester, a gentleman of ability and great activity in the sphere of his ministerial duties. Prominent among the clergymen who have had charge of this church, in addition to those mentioned, were Revs.
Messrs. Strover, Selmser, Rev. Dr. Miller, Stern- berg, Lautz, Klein, Strobel, Borchard, Rumpff, Boyer and the present efficient and highly-respect- ed pastor, Rev. Paul L. Menzel, who commenced his labors in connection with this church Septem- ber 18, 1874.
During the ministrations of the eloquent and de- voted Wm. T. Strobel, who was pastor of the church from March 12, 1859, to May 18, 1863, the church edifice passed into the hands of the present congregation, the right to transfer the same having been given by decree of the County Court, Septem- ber 16, 1861. December 2, 1861, a deed of the church property was given by John Shutt, George Zerfass, Benjamin Kidd, James Kiehle and R. Steffy, a majority of the trustees of the two con- gregations aforementioned, to William Schwendler, John G. Engert and Jacob Schwingle, trustees of this church, for the almost nominal sum of $800.
A few years after the dedication of the church, a fine pipe-organ was placed in it. As it was the first of its kind ever brought to Dansville, it was an object of curiosity and admiration. There was then no regular organist in the village, and an ac- complished performer named Snyder, residing at Avon, was hired to take charge of it on the Sab- bath. He traveled from his place of residence to Dansville every week for a long time. When Mr. Selmser resigned his pastorate, he purchased the organ, which had become an object of contention in the troubles which beset the church, and re- moved it to Lockport.
In 1876, the church underwent extensive repairs. It was re-dedicated August 6, 1876, service being conducted both in German and English, the former by the pastor, Rev. Paul L. Menzel, and the latter by the Rev. P. A. Strobel.
The church now numbers one hundred and twenty members. It belongs to the United Ger- man Evangelical Synod of North America-the only one in the county belonging to that Synod- and is connected with the German Evangelical Lutheran Church of Perkinsville, Steuben county, of which Mr. Menzel is also pastor.
The English Lutheran Church of Dansville, an off-shoot from the German Lutheran Church of this village, was organized in 1846. Their house of worship was built in 1847, and dedicated Decem- ber 25th of that year. Among the prominent members at the organization of the church were Dr. S. L. Endress, John Haas, S. Jones, Henry Hartman, Elias Geiger, Conrad Welch, Daniel Ingersoll, William Haas, Dr. C. H. Patchin, Wil-
* Lucian B. Proctor, Esq., of Dansville.
18.4
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
liam Wildey, John Littles, John Haas, Jr., B. Pickett and George C. Drehmer. The Building Committee were John IIass, William Wildey and Frederick House. The first officers, elected Jan- uary 11, 1848, were :- Daniel Ingersoll, Trustee ; John Kohler, Elder; George C. Drehmer, Deacon ; Shepard Jones, Clerk ; John Haas, Treasurer.
The church now numbers about one hundred members. It is a somewhat remarkable fact that the church has never been in debt beyond its im- mediate ability to provide for.
The following have been the succession of pas- tors :-
Rev. John Selmser* 1845-1854.
Rev. F. W. Brauns. 1854.
Rev. C. H. Hersh 1855-1857.
Rev. L. L. Bonnell. . 1858-1859.
Rev. D. Swope 1859-1863.
Rev. M. 1. Stover 1864.
Rev. Albert Waldron 1865-1867.
Rev. John Selmser (2d term) 1868-1873.
Rev. E. H. Martin 1873-1875.
Rev. P. A. Strobel 1875-1880.
St. Mary's Church, (Catholic,) of Dansville .- German Catholics found their way to Dansville as early as the beginning of the present century, and it has been asserted that a Catholic was among the very first settlers. Later a few Irish Catholics came in with the needy surplus population which Europe poured into this country, but Catholicity (lid not have a visible existence here for more than a generation after the town was first settled.
In 1836, the Catholic families residing in this neighborhood were visited by Rev. Father P. Prost, a redemptorist missionary from Rochester, and a German by birth, who was afterwards sent as a missionary to Ireland. He gathered the few Catholics then located here in divine worship, and administered the holy sacraments of the church. He was followed in 1837, by Father Schackert. Two years later, in 1839, Rev. Father Sanderl began to come here semi-annually. He was suc- ceeded by Rev. Benedict Bayer. These labors were continued until 1844, when the Catholics purchased the school house in the west part of the village and converted it into a house of worship. From that period they were visited more regularly than hitherto, by Father Bernick.
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