USA > New York > Oneida County > History of Oneida County, New York : from 1700 to the present time, Volume I > Part 38
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, ROME-This church was organized as a Con- gregational church September 28, 1800, which was effected at the house of Ebenezer Wright in Wright settlement, about three miles from Rome. The first meetings in Rome proper were held in a barn, ball room, store room and schoolhouse until 1807, when the first church was erected. Rev. Moses Gillette was the first pastor, and was installed October 14, 1807. A revival occurred in 1826 under the auspices of the famous Rev. Charles G. Finney. The church was formally transferred to the Presbytery in 1819. Then followed as pastors Rev. Moses D. Carey, Rev. B. W. Dwight, Rev. O. E. Dunning and Rev. Selden Haines. A second church was organized in January, 1831, but was consolidated with the first church June 12, 1847. The present commodious church building was erected in 1852 and dedicated January 19, 1853, Rev. William E. Knox, D. D., being pastor at the time. He received a call to the First Presbyterian church of Elmira in 1865, and resigned the Rome pulpit. Then followed Rev. Howard Kingsbury and Rev. Peter Stryker, D. D., who was installed Novem- ber 16, 1870. He was succeeded by Rev. James H. Taylor, D. D., whose pas- torate extended from 1876 to 1899. Then came Rev. Charles G. Sewall in 1900, who was pastor until 1907, when he was succeeded by Rev. Philip H. Cole, D. D., the present pastor. In 1901 a chapel was built at a cost of $17,000, which is used for Sunday school purposes and by the several organizations of the church.
In 1911 Presbyterian churches in the county belonging to the Presbytery of Utica and the number of communicants are as follows: Boonville, 165; Clin- ton, Hamilton College, 57; Clinton, Stone church, 311; Camden, 196; Forest- port, 82; New York Mills, Walcott Memorial, 218; Holland Patent, 200; Oneida Castle, Cochrane Memorial, 166; Oriskany, Waterbury Memorial, 150; Rome, 551; Utica, Sayre Memorial, 290; Utica, First, 902; Utica, Westminster, 861; Utica, Bethany, 392; Utica, Olivet, 442; Sauquoit, 100; Vernon Center, 63; Vernon, 93; Verona, 142; Waterville, 236; Westernville, 89; Whitesboro, 191; Knoxboro, 89; West Camden, 52.
PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH-The first Protestant Episcopal church in the state west of Johnstown was organized at Paris Hill in 1797 and called
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St. Paul's Episcopal church. A meeting was held February 13, 1797, and officers of the church were then elected. At its Centennial celebration held in 1897, the Rev. J. B. Wicks, rector of the church, read a historical address, from which the following is an abstract :
The large boulder stone now located on the cemetery lot of I. L. Addington, bearing his name and marking his resting place, was first used as the corner- stone of the little church. When the new church was erected it did duty for a time as a horse block, and in 1872 it was placed where it now rests, a fitting monument to a man who delighted to honor St. Paul's with all his heart.
The first Bible and prayer book used in the public service of the church were gifts to the parish in 1798. Gideon Seymour was sent as delegate to the diocesan convention in New York City. While there he called upon the gov- ernor of the state, Mr. Jay. To him he stated the facts touching the founding of the new parish far away in the western wilderness. The governor was much interested, proffering his sympathy and help. Taking down the unbound sheets of a large Bible, he said: "Here is just what you need for the reading desk. I will get Livingston (who was then lieutenant governor) to bind them and you will be nicely fixed. The sheets of the Bible were put into the hands of the lieutenant governor, who was a bookbinder, and were soon ready for use. Some one (name not known) gave the old prayer book which, with the Bible, were in use for nearly fifty years. The Bible appears now at the end of the hundred years to be in as good order as when brought to the parish in 1798.
The first church building stood on the ground where the present church is built. It was a house about thirty feet in length and twenty wide. There was a large fireplace at one end. The seats were rude affairs and movable, as they were in all the early public buildings. This house was moved to an adjoining lot when the present church was built, where it was burned about 1835. Fol- lowing are the members of the parish who have become clergymen of the church. Dr. Hitchkis, J. B. Wicks, E. B. Doolittle, J. E. Ramsdel. Mr. Doo- little is a lineal descendant of Capt. Uri Doolittle, one of the founders of the parish. He is of the fifth generation.
St. Paul's parish, Paris Hill, N. Y., was organized on the 13th of February, 1797. The following is a true copy of the record: "Paris, February 13, A. D., 1797. At a meeting of a number of the members of the Protestant Episcopal order legally warned and met at the dwelling house of Selah Seymour and Proceeded according to an act for the relief of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the state of New York as follows: Firstly, chose Gideon Seymour, chairman; sec- ondly, chose Selah Seymour, clerk of meeting; thirdly, chose Eli Blakeslee senior warden; fourthly, chose Gideon Seymour, junior warden; fifthly, chose eight vestrymen as they stand: Uri Doolittle, Selah Seymour, Benjamin Graves, Thomas Stebens, Peter Selleck, George Harden, Epos. Bligh, Noah Hummaston, Silas Judd. Same time voted that the Monday after Easter shall be held as a day of election to choose wardens and vestrymen. Voted that the name of this church shall be stiled and called St. Paul's Church in Herkimer county. Voted to dissolve the meeting the 13th February, 1797."
It will be noticed that in the above record there are nine vestrymen, though the minutes say "eight as they stand." Mr. Judd, the last named, was the
BLEECKER STREET BAPTIST CHURCH
GRACE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. UTICA
TRINITY CHURCH, UTICA First Protestant Episcopal church organized in Utica
HOLY TRINITY ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH (Polish)
FIRST MORAVIAN CHURCH, TTICA
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youngest on the list and outlived all the others many years. He stated in the writer's hearing that when the first meeting was held he had just come into the place. Hearing of the gathering he went in and made himself known to the little company. They had just finished the election. Eli Blakeslee, the senior warden, remarked, "The law says there must be eight vestrymen, but does not limit the number in the other direction. I propose that inasmuch as we are all in office but Mr. Judd, that his name be added to the list." When the writer saw Mr. Judd in 1860, he was 84 years of age, and quite justly proud of being the only survivor of the pioneer band, and the oldest churchman in the Diocese of Western New York. Two months later the Easter election takes place and Messrs. Judd, Bly, Hummaston and Selah Seymour disappear, and Thomas Dakins, Jonathan Thorn and Abram Bailey take their places.
The interior of the church as it was first finished was in the old time style. The general form was as now with the exception of the added chancel and vestry room, the pulpit above all, but the roof and gallery, a three-decker, surely. The reading desk was directly in front of the pulpit, used both as lecture and prayer desk. The communion table was under the reading desk-a plain table standing now in the vestry room. Tradition says that it was brought from Connecticut on one of the many loads of furniture moved by ox sleds. The pulpit was reached by winding stairs ascending from the chancel. The chancel was a square enclosure directly in front of the pulpit, extending into the church some twelve or fourteen feet, flanked on each side by what were known as the long pews. The pews were the old-fashioned straight back enclosures with doors that fastened with a small button. There were two box-stoves-one near the entrance and one in front of the chancel. The pipe from the stove in the body of the church rose straight above the stove to a height of some eight feet, then with a slight ascent it extended over what were known as the body pews, and entered a larger pipe supported by a wooden post. The pipe from the stove near the door also joined hands with the larger one, which rose perpendic- ularly to the ceiling and just above it entered the chimney. The vestry room was at the right of the vestibule, under the gallery. The gallery had its present form-the only change there, being the removal of the awkward seats which originally encumbered this elevated enclosure. Some 30 years after the church was built the first changes were made. The high pulpit was removed and the reading desk substituted in its place. A new lectern and communion table were introduced, and the entire interior painted and whitewashed. No change appears after this until 1868. Then the chancel and vestry room were added. The old pews were removed and the entire interior refitted. The material of the old pews was used in the new ones, and the doors and front paneling of the seats form the wainscoting of chancel and vestry room. The old pulpit with some slight changes is the present altar. The windows were all changed- five being put in as memorial and one by the Sunday school. G. W. Head of Utica gave the chandelier. The window used in the vestry room is the central window of the old church chancel. The two windows in front remain the same as when the church was built. The next change was in 1895 and '96. The walls were repapered, new carpets obtained and new cushions put in.
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In 1897 the building was repainted and the windows repaired-the whole being put in perfect order for the centennial.
Tradition says that at the raising of the Congregational church in 1795, some one remarked: "I have given two pounds for the erection of this church, and now I should be glad to give the same amount for the building of an Episcopal church." This was Peter Selleck, afterward a member of the vestry. In September the same year on general training day, seven or eight men gathered for conference in the rear of the tavern. Finding an ox cart in the yard, they made it serve as the first meeting place in the interests of our church in all this western country. From this association with the rude vehicle the parish bore the name of "ox-cart parish" for several years. In 1796, December 18, the first service was held. Gideon Seymour, Eli Blakeslee, Benjamin Jarvis, Peter Selleck and Uri Doolittle met at this time with their families, including about 12 adults, and celebrated divine service. The house in which this service was held was that of Gideon Seymour, standing near the present church. This is the first public service in the Episcopal church of which we have any record west of Johnstown. Each Sunday thereafter these men and their contemporaries and successors provided that there should be no break in the line. It may not be a matter of large moment that the Sunday services of a parish follow each other without the loss of one for 100 years; but the fact itself is valuable as an index of the kind of character which gives truth to the fact. Men were in the deed strong and abiding. They made the service sure, out of themselves sure, and this not only shaped the general character of the parish, but it provided that it should never be without one or more thor- oughly equipped lay readers. There were periods in the first 25 years of the parish's history when the lay reader conducted the service for a year at a time without once seeing the face of a clergyman. The first visit of a clergy- man noted on the record is that of Rev. Robert Griffith Wetmore in 1797. Mr. Wetmore certifies that Nov. 14, 1797, he baptized seven children of Peter Sel- leck and one of Capt. Uri Doolittle. After him came at irregular intervals Rev. Philander Chase afterward Bishop of Ohio, Father Nash, Rev. John Urqu- hart, Rev. Davenport Phelps, Rev. Mr. Stebbins, Rev. Mr. Judd, Rev. A. G. Bald- win, Rev. Mr. Thatcher and Rev. Nathaniel Huse. Of all these men Father Nash and Mr. Huse had more to do with the building and cementing of the growing parish life than all the others. Father Nash came in 1801 and stayed till 1827. He was especially faithful in influencing and reaching the children. Rev. Nathaniel Huse was in many ways first among the pioneer teachers. It was his stirring words in a sermon preached October 2, 1817, that decided the question of the new church building. He was so interested that he even paid some of the more doubtful subscriptions. The building of the church was the great event in all the early history of the parish. Immediately following the sermon above referred to, 43 persons, farmers, merchants and laborers, sub- scribed $2,978 in sums ranging from $10 to $200. Most of them are the old familiar names of the parish of which Doolittle, Wicks and Addington are all that remain. Most of the subscribers were residents of the parish proper, though the name of Judge Jedediah Sanger of New Hartford appears as one of the signers with a gift of $100. The carpenters of the village were the architects,
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I judge, as well as the builders. Uri Doolittle, John Wicks and Seabury Sco- ville were the committee in charge of the work. The men employed to do the work were Val Pierce, Ezekiel Pierce and David Lake, Jr.
The building was "built upon honor," of the best timber and in the se- curest manner possible. Four score years it has stood the searching of our rigorous climate and apparently stands as securely as it did on the day of its completion. The original house possessed some ornamentation that a little later disappeared. The open green was to the front, then entirely bare of trees and all later improvements. Along the old Oxford turnpike, directly under the eaves of the church, went the traffic of this part of the country down to Albany, then the business center of all this region. For fifty years and more the old time order of services obtained in the church. The congregation gathered at 10:30, and after full morning service and sermon came the noon intermission. A few of the faithful looked after the Sunday school, always small in this rural parish; others visited the little cemetery or dropped in at a neighbor's or sat in the large shady verandah of the cosy inn near by. If the clergyman was from away, then the wardens escorted him to the pleasant sitting room of the old hotel, where all were duly refreshed with the best creature comforts that the place afforded. At 1 o'clock the scattered groups came to- gether again and the afternoon service was held, lasting usually an hour, it being the full evening service, with a sermon. When Rev. Nathaniel Huse was rector, he held "reading schools" in the several schoolhouses. He would as- semble all who came, and for an hour would drill them in reading the service. Thus he brought the whole congregation to the point where the volume of sound in the responses fairly filled the church. Another marked trait was the regular attendance of the old time members. Mr. Bligh, of North Bridgewater, walked here every Sunday, the distance being seven miles. William Osborn and family, who lived six miles distant, were also very regular. Another characteristic of the parish from the very first has been its love for a simple, plain service. The public worship of the church is conducted today in form practically as it was at the first service 100 years ago. There has never been the least ripple of controversy over the manner of holding the services.
Rev. Oeramus Smith seems to have been the first settled rector after Mr. Huse. Rev. Algeron Hollister was missionary at Paris and parts adjacent in 1824. Rev. O. H. Smith was settled here July 20, 1828, and on his coming the permanent register of the clergyman's official acts begins. There is no break in it from this time to the present date. Rev. Henry Peak succeeded Mr. Smith in 1837 and remained six years. He was succeeded by Rev. Isaac Swartt, who came and went in 1844. He had a public discussion with Rev. Mr. Blodgett, the Cougrega- tional minister, in the large room over G. W. Head's store. Both of the parties were annihilated. Rev. John Hughes had charge of the parish in 1845. The new rectory was built in 1846. Rev. William Baker became rector in 1847 and remained five years. He excelled as a parish visitor. He did some outside mis- sionary work and held services in Clayville. Rev. William Atwill was the next rector and had charge nearly four years. He was very absent minded. Rev. William J. Alger succeeded Mr. Atwill, and with his advent the parish suc- ceeded to a new and richer life. His was the first prolonged and entirely satis-
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factory rectorship. With a knowledge of human nature that was almost intuitive, he combined these twin requisites with a well balanced mind and a warm loving heart. The congregations increased, the income grew, and the spirit and tone of the entire people were quickened and greatly enriched. For nearly ten years Mr. Alger continued in charge, and the judgment of the people was "an al- most ideal rectorship." Part of the time Bridgewater and Clayville were under his charge. In 1868 Mr. Alger accepted a call to Saco, Me., and your present rector, then a lay reader in the parish, took charge. Ordained in November of that year, he continued in the rectorship for thirteen years and six months, the longest period in the history of the parish. During this time the church was repaired and refitted at an expense of nearly $2,000. In 1872 the old rectory was sold, and the new one built as it now stands at an expense over the selling price of the old rectory of $2,500. In 1895-6 the church and rectory were repaired and refitted at an expense of several hundred dollars. At the present time the entire property of the parish is in the best order it has ever been.
In 1878 the rector took four young Indian men to reside with him as mem- bers of his family for three years and to receive an education. Two were Chey- ennes, one a Kiowa and one a Comanche. They were baptized and confirmed, and at the end of the three years two of them were ordained deacons by Bishop Huntington. In June, 1881, they journeyed with their rector to Indian Ter- ritory, their old home, and engaged in missionary work there.
In 1883 the parish called Rev. Joel Davis to the rectorship. He had charge about three years. In 1887 Rev. B. E. Whipple was called and continued for eight years. In May, 1895, Rev. J. B. Wicks returned to the parish after an absence of 14 years and resumed the work he had laid down in June, 1881.
The list of the wardens and the length of time they have served is as fol- lows: Eli Blakeslee, 9 years, first senior warden; Gideon Seymour, 4 years, first junior warden; Uri Doolittle, 2; Benjamin Graves, 1; Silas Judd, 2. These five were among the founders: John Wicks, 8; Leverett Baldwin, 9; John Hubbard, 5; Darius Scoville, 3; Charles Blakeslee, 32; Amos Howe, 1; William Osborne, 9; Adonijah Hitchkiss, 4; David Stiler, 17; Isaac Scoville, 7; Levi Blakeslee, 11; Charles Wicks, 15; Enos Potter, 20; J. V. H. Scoville 1; John Osborn, 16, living in California; D. C. Addington, 12; H. M. Rouse, 5, present warden; Edward Doolittle, 5, present warden; I. L. Addington was clerk of the vestry from 1851 to 1892, a period of 41 years.
Lay readers-Eli Blakeslee, Gideon Seymour, Thomas Dakin, Ithniel Brain- ard, John Wicks, Silas Judd, Leverett Baldwin, John L. Wicks, Charles Os- borne, Samuel Hammond, Isaac Selleck, Isaac Smith, Charles Blakeslee, Levi Blakeslee, Charles Wicks, Leroy Scoville, John Osborn, David Addington, I. L. Addington, J. V. H. Scoville, J. B. Wicks, H. Rouse, C. H. Addington-23.
The missionaries have been-Rev. Robert Griffith Wetmore, Philander Chase, William Urquhart, Davenport Phelps, Mr. Stebbins, Mr. Judd, A. G. Baldwin, Mr. Thatcher, Mr. Nash, Mr. Ellison, William B. Lacy, William A. Clark, Mr. Gear.
The present communion service was presented by the ladies in 1852.
Three ordinations have occurred in the parish. They were: November, 1868, ..
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John B. Wicks and William A. Ely, as deacons by Bishop Coxe. November, 1872, Rev. John B. Wicks, as presbyter, by Bishop Huntington.
With the exception of about nine months Rev. John B. Wicks has been rec- tor of the church since 1895. In 1910 he tendered his resignation on the ground of ill health. The vestry regretfully accepted the resignation, being entirely conscious at the time that Mr. Wicks was not able to perform the services re- quired, and resolutions of high appreciation were unanimously adopted. In re- sponse to the wishes of the church and community, as expressed by the action of the vestry, he continued to live in the rectory, and services were conducted each Sunday by lay readers. After a period of beneficial rest he yielded to the call of the vestry, and April 1, 1911, again resumed his work as rector. The present wardens are Charles H. Addington and John L. Wicks, the former be- ing a grandson of one of the founders of the church, Peter Selleck, and the lat- ter being a grandson of one of the pioneers of the town who settled in Paris in 1800-Captain John Wicks.
TRINITY CHURCH, UTICA-The first church of this denomination in Utica was Trinity, organized in 1798 by the Rev. Philander Chase, afterward Bishop of Illinois. For a period of five years services were imperfectly maintained by lay-reading, and it was not until the year 1803 that measures were taken toward the building of a church edifice. In that year John R. Bleecker, of Albany, gave a lot on the corner of Broad and First streets 100 feet front and 127 feet deep, in fulfilment of a promise that such a gift would be made to that religious society which should first undertake the erection of a church edifice. On the basis of a subscription of a little more than $2,000 the building was commenced, but it was not until the year 1806 that it was so far completed that Bishop Moore was induced to consecrate it. In December, 1810, it was finished, having cost $7,140. Of this sum $2,000 was contributed by Trinity church, New York. The building, an unpretentious yet tasteful structure, was designed by Philip Hooker, of Albany, an architect who did some good work in his day, as witness in his own city old St. Peter's church, the old State capitol, and the academy. The first chosen officers of the church were Abraham Walton and Nathaniel Williams, wardens; William Inman, Charles Walton, John Smith, Benjamin Walker, Sam- uel Hooker, Aylmer Johnson, James Hopper and Edward Smith, vestrymen. The first minister in charge was the Rev. Jonathan Judd, who officiated from 1804 to 1806 alternately here and at Paris Hill, though not continuously in either place. The first rector was the Rev. Amos G. Baldwin, who held that position from 1806 to 1818. He constructed with his own hands the first organ in the church, hav- ing a manual or key-board. This organ did good service for many years in Christ church, Sherburne, and can now be seen, with some enlargements and improvements, in the Presbyterian church at New York Mills. Mr. Baldwin died at Auburn in 1844.
Through the influence of Col. Benjamin Walker, who may be regarded as the lay founder of Trinity church, the Countess of Bath (England) was in- duced in 1808 to give to the church 265 acres of land in the town of Eaton, Madison county. This gift was of no great benefit to the church. The income from it was small and hard to collect, and finally, in the year 1815, the land was
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sold for a sum of money barely nominal. Nearly contemporaneous with the donation from the Countess of Bath was one from the corporation of Trinity church, New York, of three lots in Reade street and one in Clark street in that city. Two of the Reade street lots and the one in Clark street are still the prop- erty of the church in Utica. The income from the whole property, though com- paratively small, has been of essential service.
In the year 1819 Mr. Baldwin was succeeded in the rectorship by the Rev. Henry M. Shaw, who remained about two years. Rev. Henry Anthon was rec- tor from 1821 to 1829, in which year he accepted a call to St. Stephen's church in New York, afterward becoming assistant minister in Trinity church, and finally spending the last twenty years of his life as rector of St. Mark's in the Bowery. Rev. Mr. Anthon's pastorate was most gratifying and successful. His sermons were marked by purity, beauty and finish of style, and in both them and his conversation there was a racy flavor of strength that betokened ability of a high order. He was an attentive and indefatigable pastor and a genial and faithful friend. It was during Mr. Anthon's pastorate that the first rectory was built in the rear of the church. The next rector was the Rev. Ben- jamin Dorr, whose ministry extended from 1829 to 1831, when he resigned the charge. He was afterward rector of Christ church, Philadelphia. Dr. Dorr was succeeded in 1836 by the Rev. Pierre Alexis Proal, who came from St. George's church, Schenectady. His pastorate was much longer than that of either of his predecessors, terminating with his death in 1857. He was one of the most scholarly and oratorical of the preachers of the city. For a long period he was annually elected secretary of the Diocesan Convention of Central New York. He was a trustee of Hamilton College, and was frequently called upon to fill other posts of educational and religious importance. He was succeeded by the Rev. Samuel Hanson Coxe, brother of Bishop Alfred Coxe, and son of the renowned Presbyterian clergyman, Alfred C. Coxe, whose ministry continued to November, 1877. He was followed in February, 1878, by the Rev. Charles H. Gardner, who resigned in October, 1886, and was followed by Harding.
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