History of Orange County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 177

Author: Ruttenber, Edward Manning, 1825-1907, comp; Clark, L. H. (Lewis H.)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1336

USA > New York > Orange County > History of Orange County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 177

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After Mr. Van Bunschooten's labors as pastor in the churches here ceased, the parsonage owned by the three churches was sold and the proceeds divided among them. The portion coming to this church was $442.20, and was paid to them May 1, 1800. This was called the "Parsonage Fund," and by the acen- mulation of interest had increased by Sept. 22, 1827, to $997.80. It was used from time to time in repairs upon the church and other ways, but chiefly in the erection of the new church edifice in 1833, $849.47 having been appropriated to this purpose at different times.

* It would seem thet a church was organized at Westtown under Van Bunschooten, since it appears in the minutes of General Synod (1800) with Machackemech, Minisink, and Walpack.

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY, NEW YORK.

After the labors of Mr. Van Bunschooten as pastor here ceased, the church remained vacant until in the winter of 1803 and 1804, when the Rev. John Dema- rest became their fourth pastor. In the interim they had occasional supplies. He was the first minister here whose services were wholly in the English lan- guage. He was born at New Bridge, N. J., three miles from Hackensack, in 1763. He received his literary education at Hackensack Academy, under the rectorship of Dr. Wilson, studied theology with Dr. Solomon Froeligh at Schraalenberg, and was li- censed to preach in 1789. His first settlement was over the united churches of Boght and Niskayuna, from 1790 to 1803. He died in New York City in 1837. He had two sons, both of whom entered the ministry. One (William) united with the True Re- formed Dutch Church and was for many years settled in New York City, where he died about three years ago. The other, Rev. James Demarest, was connected with the Classis of Orange as pastor of the church at Napanoch from 1841 to 1848, and is still connected with the denomination, residing at Newark, N. J., without charge. A grandson, Rev. James Demarest, Jr., D.D. (son of Rev. Jas. Demarest), is the present pastor of the Second Reformed Church in Kingston.

Upon Mr. Demarest's departure the church was left without a pastor for ten years. During the va- cancy reading meetings were held, Jacobus Swartwout conducting the service.

Rev. Cornelius C. Elting was the fifth pastor of this church, he having accepted a call from it in connec- tion with Minisink, dated Nov. 16, 1816, and being ordained and installed Jan. 25, 1817. Mr. Elting was of Huguenot descent, and was born at Hurley, Ulster Co., N. Y., March 25, 1793, and studied with his brother, Rev. Wilhelmus Elting, before entering Queen's College at New Brunswick, where he was graduated in October, 1812. His theological course was pursued in the seminary at New Brunswick, and he was licensed by the Classis of New Brunswick May 30, 1816. He preached a short time after his licensure at Pleasant Plains, Duchess Co., previous to his coming here. Mr. Elting continued to preach at Minisink, in connection with this church, for twenty- one years, until Jan. 30, 1838, when his labors were confined to this church and congregation, which since then have enjoyed the exclusive services of their own minister.

The ministry of Mr. Elting proved highly benefi- cial to the church. He entered upon his labors under most favorable circumstances. A revival had been in progress for some time, and numerous conversions had taken place. The work continued some months after his settlement. At the first communion, only one month after his installation, 37 persons united with this church upon confession, and at the next one, three months later, 50 were admitted in the same manner, the largest number ever received at a single communion during its whole history. The entire

number received in this first year of his ministry was 117, and all upon profession of their faith. He continued his useful labors here for twenty-six years and ten months, when, with an eye not dimmed nor his natural force abated, he entered into his rest Oet. 24, 1843, aged fifty years and seven months.

One or two events took place during the ministry of Mr. Elting having no little bearing upon the interests of the church, and hence demanding notice. One was the erection of a new church edifice and the removal of its site to that now occupied by it. For nearly one hundred years it had been upon the same site. Car- penter's Point, near which it stood, had been the place of business for the surrounding country. There was the mill, store, hotel, and a few dwellings, making it the only hamlet in all this section. There was the ferry, upon the stage-route leading from Newburgh to Milford, and thence to Carbondale, Owego, and Central New York, the great West of the day. All this was to undergo an entire change. The Delaware and Hudson Canal had been constructed, and Port Jervis began to show its head. It was evident to dis- cerning ones that this was henceforth to be the centre of business, and Carpenter's Point must modestly re- tire. The pastor of the church was far-seeing enough to perceive that a change of location would promote its prosperity, and he became a warm advocate of the measure and its largest contributor. The project met with no little opposition from some east of the Never- sink and in New Jersey, but not enough to defeat it. A site was given by the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, who have acted with much generosity in such matters along their line.

At the time of the erection of this building there were not more than a dozen and a half dwellings within the present limits of Port Jervis, with a popu- lation scarcely reaching one hundred. There was but one organized church, one small school-house, one physician, two stores, no lawyers, no newspapers or printing-presses, not a single bank, railway, or any of the numerous places of business now found. A trip to the city was a fatiguing, wearisome journey by stage and steamboat, occupying in going and return- ing three or four days and made only at long intervals.

A few years after the erection of the new church, its corporate name was changed from the Reformed Dutch Church of Mahackamech to the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Deerpark, by applica- tion to the Legislature. This was done in 1838.

During the ministry of Mr. Elting Sabbath-schools were introduced in the church, which are now re- garded as indispensable to its prosperity. From its first organization, the religious instruction of the children and youth had been attended to by the parent or head of the family, who, upon Sabbath evening usually, gathered the household together and catechised them, or by the pastor in Bible and cate- chetical classes, held generally on the afternoon of some week-day in the school-house, when the teacher

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would give place for an hour or two to exercises of this nature. The American Sunday-School Union had been organized in 1824, and its agents were em- ployed in organizing schools wherever an opening was found. In 1829 the first school was formed here by Mr. Wood, an agent of the American Sunday- School Union, the Rev. Mr. Elting being chosen as its superintendent .* Having the charge of two con- gregations, he was necessarily absent half of the time, and hence unable to discharge its duties, and soon resigned, his successor being Solomon Van Auken. For twenty years the school was in operation only during the summer season, but in 1849 it was resolved to keep it open during the entire year.

Thomas White deserves a notice in this history be- cause of a bequest made by him to the church, which brings him before it (when its provisions are complied with) once in each year. Mr. White was a native of England, to which country he was strongly attached. Ile was well educated, not only in English, but in Latin and Greek, with some knowledge of French. He had likewise learned the trade of making ropes, since in that day every young man in his country, even the king's son, was obliged to learn some trade. He was exceedingly studious and industrious, and when not engaged in teaching would be occupied either in study or with his trade. He came to Peen- pack from the east side of the mountain in the autumn of 1776 as a school-teacher, and lived in the house with the father of Peter E. Gumaer, Esq., and taught school therein during the greater part of the Revolutionary war,-the first well-educated teacher in the valley. After closing his services in the valley as school-teacher (which in the estimation of Esquire neighborhood of his former residence near Mount Hope, where he died in 1807. Mr. White was a firm believer in the Christian religion and in its funda- mental doctrines, and by his will directed that ten dollars should be paid yearly to each of four churches for a sermon to be preached upon one of four specified subjects in each church on a certain designated Sab- bath in every year forever. The money for this pur- pose was to be in the hands of the supervisors of the towns of Wallkill and Deerpark, who were to see that the requirements of the will were complied with, and to pay the amount yearly to each church. In May, 1827, the supervisor of the town of Deerpark, Peter E. Gumaer, instead of the yearly payment of ten dollars to the church, according to the strict letter of the will, paid over to the Consistory $150, the interest of which has been appropriated to this object. A like sum was paid to each of the other three churches, thus relieving the supervisors from further responsi- bility and care in the matter.

The sixth pastor was Rev. George P. Van Wyck,

who was settled four months after the death of Mr. Elting. He was born in Bloomingburgh, N. Y., pur- sued his academical studies at Bloomingburgh and Montgomery, was graduated from Rutgers College in 1840, studied theology at New Brunswick, and was licensed by the Classis of Orange Ang. 1, 1843. He was ordained in the ministry and installed pastor of this church Feb. 29, 1844, the ordination sermon being preached by Rev. R. Pitts. He remained in charge here until May 19, 1852, when he was dismissed to take charge of a Presbyterian congregation in Berlin, Md., and was subsequently settled at Gettysburg and at Chester, Pa. Upon the breaking out of the late war he entered the army as chaplain, and at its close was appointed chaplain in the United States army, having been stationed for the last few years at Atlanta, Ga.

Rev. Hiram Slauson became the seventh pastor, and was installed Feb. 22, 1853, the Rev. Dr. M. N. McLaren preaching at his installation. Mr. Slauson was graduated at Union College in 1837, and previous to his coming here was settled at Northumberland, Saratoga Co., N. Y., from 1844 to 1852. He continued in charge of the church here until October, 1857, when his connection with it was dissolved, he having accepted the call from the Congregational Church at Unionville, Conn. During Mr. Slauson's ministry a parsonage was purchased by the congregation at a cost of $2000, the first one owned by them exclusively. In the second year of his pastorate the church edifice was enlarged and greatly improved, the interior re- modeled, the pulpit, which had stood by the door, placed at the opposite end of the building and the seats reversed, the whole costing about $2500.

After Mr. Slauson left the church was vacant four Gumaer were of immense value) he removed to the . months, when the eighth pastor, Rev. Samuel W.

Mills, was settled. His call was dated Dec. 16, 1857, and his installation took place Feb. 22, 1858, the in- stallation sermon being preached by Rev. Dr. M. N. McLaren. His academical studies were prosecuted at Bloominghurgh and Montgomery, graduating from Rutgers College in 1838, and from the theological seminary at New Brunswick in 1842. He was li- censed by the Classis of New Brunswick July 25th of the same year, and in October commenced preach- ing in the Reformed Dutch church at Blooming- burgh, where he was ordained and installed May 30, 1843, remaining there as pastor for fifteen years, until accepting the call here. His services as pastor of this church closed on the second Sabbath in November, 1871, but were continued in supply of the pulpit until the settlement of his successor.

In the winter and spring of 1868 an extensive work of grace was wrought in the church and congregation as well as in the place generally. In point of num- bers received into the church, in the genuineness of the work, and in the character and influence of the converts, it was the most extensive revival in the church since 1833. The number received upon con- fession at a single communion as the result of this

* The first Sabbath-school library was given to it at this time, by John B. Jervis, Esq.

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY, NEW YORK.

work was 38. The entire number received during this pastorate was 249.

The increase of the congregation had been such for a few years, owing to the continnous growth of the village, that the church edifice was too small for the worshipers. It was found, too, that any enlargement

Rutgers College. The building was erected under the superintendence of that skillful architect I. G. Perry, of Binghamton, N. Y., and was dedicated Jan. 19, 1870, the Rev. Dr. DeWitt, of the theological seminary at New Brunswick, preaching the dedica- tion sermon. The cost of the building proper was

REFORMED PROTESTANT DUTCH CHURCH OF DEERPARK.

of the building then in use would be either impracti- ' $38,287.45, and of the furnishing, including furnaces, cable or attended with so much expense as to be un- gas-fixtures, carpets, upholstering, etc., $5383.65, making in all $43,668.10. This entire sum was pro- vided for before the day of dedication. At the same time an organ was presented to the church by Mr. H. H. Farnum. advisable. The result was the erection of the present commodious and attractive edifice in 1868 and 1869. The corner-stone was laid Ang. 18, 1868, when ad- dresses were delivered by Rev. Dr. Van Zandt, of Montgomery, and Rev. Dr. Campbell, president of Jan. 11, 1872, the Consistory made a call upon Rev.

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DEERPARK.

Samuel J. Rogers, who became the ninth pastor, and entered upon his pastoral services Feb. 15, 1872, and was installed on April 2d, the Rev. S. W. Mills preaching at his installation. Mr. Rogers was edu- cated at New Brunswick, graduating from Rutgers College in 1859, and from the theological seminary in 1862. He remained the pastor of this church until the second Sabbath in May, 1876. Upon leaving here he accepted a call from the Reformed Church in Fort Plain, N. Y. During his ministry here an extensive religious interest existed in the congregation, in the winter of 1875 and 1876, when 39 persons were added to the church upon confession at one communion. The number received during his pastorate was 93.

After the departure of Mr. Rogers the pulpit was supplied by various ministers, but chiefly by the Rev. ' Abraham Thompson, who, during a period of over three months, preached to the congregation to their general acceptance and profit. Nov. 17, 1876, the Consistory extended a call to Rev. Henry M. Voor- hees, the tenth pastor, who commenced his pastoral services in March, 1877, and was installed May 10th of the same year, the Rev. L. L. Comfort preaching the installation sermon.

During this pastorate a debt of $10,000 (incurred chiefly by exchange of parsonage at the time of erect- ing the new church and by improvements connected therewith, and in putting an iron fence in front of the church) was reduced to $2000, and a beautiful chapel added, supplying a want long felt.

During the past twenty years the contributions of this church to objects of benevolence, as reported to General Synod, have amounted to $20,671.66, or an average of a little over $1000 per year .*

Rev. Mr. Voorhees resigned his charge by reason of ill health on December, 1878, and the eleventh pastor, Rey. Goyn Talmage, was installed June 17, 1879.

There appears to be no record of the names of the constituent members who formed the church in 1737, as they are not given either in the above historical address, nor in the translation of the records made a few years since by Rev. J. B. Ten Eyck, and pub- lished by W. H. Nearpass.t The present Consistory (1880) comprises four elders, J. P. Muir, Thomas J. Bonnell, William H. Nearpass, and D. L. Mapes ; and deacons, Darius Rhodes, C. F. Van Inwegen, E. M. Gardon. The present clerk is D. S. Mapes. Two Sunday-schools are maintained,-the main one in the chapel, the other at Carpenter's Point.

THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF PORT JERVIS

executed a certificate of incorporation July 15, 1851. The proceedings were signed by E. A. Beckwith and Henry Caskey. The trustees chosen were Samuel B. Farnum, Francis I. Marvin, Theodore Barculo, Mor- timer S. Brown, John M. Rowley, and Henry Cox. The following additional particulars are furnished by the pastor :

The First Presbyterian Church of Port Jervis was organized by the Presbytery of Hudson, June 2, 1851. There were 31 members enrolled as charter members of the church. A goodly number at this time. At this date, 1880, one of the original elders remains, Mr. William S. Cort, and one private member, Mrs. Susan Beckwith. Rev. Augustus Seward was the first pastor, who was largely instrumental in making the enterprise a success, and who served the church about eight years. Of the original board of trustees one still survives, and still has his place in the church, Mr. S. B. Farnum. A building was erected within a year, cost- ing then about $5000, and was dedicated to Almighty God during the holidays of 1852-53, Rev. Asa D. Smith, D.D., of New York City, preaching the sermon.

The original Session were Ephraim A. Beckwith, Henry Caskey, William S. Cook, Ira Dales, M.D. The board of trustees were John MI. Rowley, Francis I. Marvin, Samuel B. Farnum, Henry A. Cox, Theo- dore Barculo, Mortimer S. Brown.

The pastors have been Augustus Seward, about eight years; James T. Mathews, a supply, six months; Livingston Willard, installed in August, 1860,-serv- ing about a year. In 1862, Rev. E. R. Fairchild, of the Presbytery of Hudson, took charge of the church, and served it as supply nearly five years. In March, 1867, Rev. A. P. Botsford, of the Presbytery of New York, was called, and installed in June following. He remains the pastor at this time,-September, 1880.

The present Bench of Elders consists of William S. Cook, Charles Marvin, Charles Buckley, T. F. Cor- win, James Mitchell. The present pastor is Rev. A. Botsford; Superintendent of Sabbath-school, R. W. Ware; Board of Trustees, Robert Frampton, presi- dent; George Hoagland, secretary; R. W. Ware, treasurer ; James Robertson, collector; William Mc- Cormack, O. P. Johnson, Albert Stoll, John Caskey, Robert Hickok.

The members added to the church during the first pastorate-that of Rev. Augustus Seward-were 109. Those dismissed were 42; those deceased, 7; leaving a membership of about 100. The roll remained the same until 1862, when, under the labors of Rev. E. N. Fairchild, D.D., 127 were added to the church. During the present pastorate, running over a period of thir- teen years, that of Rev. A. P. Botsford, the church building has been enlarged and remodeled, and re- furnished, a fine $3000 organ provided, a parsonage bought, at an expense of about $15,000. Besides this, the church has contributed for benevolence in the last

* During this same period $93,348 have been given for congregational purposes, viz .: minister's salary, incidental expenses, erection of aud repairs to church edifices, etc. Of the amount contributed previously for either benevolent or congregational purposes little is known, as no account of them bas been kept by church officers and no report made to General Synod. Reports of collections for benevolent objects by churches were first made in 1853, and for congregational purposes in 1858, but only by a part of the churches for some years.

+ Mr. Nearpass, besides being the publisher, translated a portion of the old records himself.

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY, NEW YORK.

ten years $6000, and for congregational purposes about $40,000. During this pastorate there have been large ingatherings of members on three different occa- sions,-March Ist there were added 50 persons; in December, 1875, and March, 1876, 72 new members were enrolled. In the thirteen years closing April, 1880, 328 new members have been added. The pres- ent number on the roll, 325; Sabbath-school scholars, 200. The church has no debt upon it, and its income fully meets its expenses.

THE SEPARATE AMERICAN METHODIST CHURCH OF PORT JERVIS

executed a certificate of incorporation May 9, 1870, and the following board of trustees were sworn to ere- cute their office to the best of their ability, viz .: Moses O. Brierson, Henry Wills, Francis Lawrence, Francis James, and Edwin Van Horn. This church, now called the Little Wesley chapel, was founded in 1852 by a preacher belonging to the Separate Methodist Congregational Church, which had its origin in the city of Philadelphia, by the name of G. W. Harden. Mr. Harden began to preach among the colored peo- ple of Port Jervis in the beginning of 1852, and con- tinued his labors there until the spring of 1853, when a society was organized consisting of nine or ten members, and most of them resided in log houses quite remote from the village. The meetings were mostly held in private houses for some time, but as the number of the members continued to increase, and as the colored population in the place became more numerous every year, the worship in private houses became more impracticable, and therefore ef- forts began to be made in the year 1857 or 1858 to purchase a lot on which a house of worship might be erected, but nothing was accomplished in the matter until the year 1868, when a small plot of ground was purchased of Mrs. Scott, near the Delaware and Hud- son Canal, where the church now stands, on which a building was partially erected in the fall and winter of that year.

THE SPARROWBUSH UNION FREE CHURCHI, TOWN OF DEERPARK,

effeeted a legal organization May 31, 1871. The as- sociated incorporators signing the certificate were Jonathan West, John R. Patterson, Robert Lewis, John J. Bross, J. C. West, William J. Darragh, and William Lewis. Religious services have been held in the house erected usually every Sunday from the in- corporation to the present time. At the present time the meetings are under the management of the Meth- odist Church.

GRACE CHURCH OF PORT JERVIS (EPISCOPAL)

executed a certificate of incorporation Sept. 5, 1853. The proceedings were signed by Samuel Fowler and Wm. Mills. The wardens chosen were Uriah Mills and Samuel Fowler; the vestrymen were Thomas

J. Lyon, L. Tooker, John P. Fowler, A. Hoffman, A. Turner, B. S. Hall, Elias Lafarge, T. N. Coleman.

The meeting was held at the Presbyterian church, where the Episcopalians were then worshiping.

The next spring, April 27, 1854, the society deemed it best to record a new article of incorporation, in which appear the names of Thomas J. Lyon, Elias Lafarge, Charles B. Hornby, Samuel Fowler, Uri Mills, Alex- ander Turner, Thomas J. Lye, Thomas Walsh, John P. Fowler, Benjamin Hall, Thomas N. Coleman, A. Kophman.

The following article, furnished by the officers of the church, gives additional particulars :

The parish of Grace Church has little of historieal incident to interest the public. The missionary effort which was made at this place some twenty years ago, after a series of reverses, was wholly abandoned, and of the communicants all but some half a dozen were scattered or removed to other places. In the year 1867 the clergy of the several parishes of the Episcopal Church in the county formed a missionary association under the name of "The Convention of Orange County." Several members of the convention soon after visited Port Jervis, and after consultation with two or three of the communicants still resident in the village, determined to employ a clergyman and to begin the missionary work afresh in this beautiful and growing village. The few remaining communicants and friends of the church cordially welcomed the pro- ject of renewing the missionary work. The Rev. John Appleton was invited to the post, and in the autumn of 1867 entered upon his duties as missionary. West- brook llall was rented, and services were held in it for some four years. In the mean time the members of the parish bought of Mr. Henry Farnum a lot on which to ereet a church, and for which they agreed to pay $2500. In the spring of 1871 the Rev. Mr. Ap- pleton was compelled, by the loss of his health, to resign his charge of the mission.

The Rev. F. N. Luson was then called, and entered soon after upon the work. Mr. Luson succeeded at once in enlisting the hearty co-operation of both the ladies and gentlemen of the parish in the endeavor to build a church, and by dint of the most untiring and persistent effort on the part of the reetor and his zeal- ons helpers, both male and female, in the face of many difficulties and discouragements, in about four years the present church edifice was completed, at a cost of some $16,000. At the elose of the year 1874 the Rev. Mr. Luson resigned his charge of the parish and removed to the diocese of Illinois, and on the 1st of February, 1875, the Rev. J. G. Rosencrantz, an assist- ant minister of St. James' Church, Brooklyn, L. I., was called, and entered upon the rectorship of the parish. With unabated zeal the little company of faithful workers entered afresh with their new rector upon their task, and during his residence of five years Mr. Rosencrantz was not only enabled to present about one hundred candidates for confirmation, and to report

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History of Orange County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 177

Author: Ruttenber, Edward Manning, 1825-1907, comp; Clark, L. H. (Lewis H.) Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 1336

Author: Ruttenber, Edward Manning, 1825-1907, comp; Clark, L. H. (Lewis H.)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1336