History of Orange County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 31

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 31

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Tobacco and cigars. Cigars

48,910 115,626

222,813

Lime ..

Machinery-general.

4,2 0 85.938 209,800

Oil floor-cloths.

Printing and publishing. Newspapers

Woisted goods.

No. Employees.

127

CHURCHES.

two High Dutch, and three Episcopal or Church of England. In 1764 the Baptist Church came in through settlers from New England, but with this ex- ception the denominations stated were without rivals. Receiving strong and influential accessions from Scot- land and Ireland, the Presbyterian Churches became the most numerous at the outbreak of the Revolution, and gave to that movement a support which has never been challenged. Reserving more especially to the towns in which they were located detailed histories of present church organizations, we notice the earlier steps in the introduction of the leading denomina- tions.

THE LUTHERAN CHURCHI.

Lutheranism was brought to Newburgh by the Palatine immigrants of 1709, who were granted, in addition to farm-lots, a glebe of five hundred acres for " the sole and only proper use, benefit, and behoof of a Lutheran minister to serve and have the care of the inhabitants and their successors forever." Joshua Kockerthal, who accompanied the nine families of immigrants as their minister, did not locate per- manently with them, but removed to Columbia County. Justus Falconier, minister of the Lutheran congregation of New York, served the people by an annual visit, and, it is written, administered the rite of baptism "in the house of one of the trustees, the 19th April, 1710." This is the first baptism of record in the county. Falconier died in 1723, and in 1725 William Christopher Berkenmeyer became his suc- cessor in visiting the settlement, it being agreed, in 1730, that he should receive as compensation "thirty shepels of wheat." His successor was Michael Chris- tian Knoll, who served similar congregations at Hack- ensack and Wappinger's Creek until 1749, at which time it is stated that " there lived" as tenants upon the glebe and thereabout, on both sides of the river, "more than thirty families" of that " Protestant Con- fession." Their house of worship was erected be- tween the years 1726 and 1731, and was adorned by a bell which had been given to them by the govern- ment, but which, in the early years of their parish history, they had loaned to the Lutheran Church in ; of the church, if any there ever were, perished with New York. In the course of the forty years which had passed since their settlement many changes had taken place among them, and in 1749 they were largely outnumbered by those who had been added to the set- As being among the earliest pioneers in civilization, and certainly the earliest in introducing the ordi- nances of religion, the Palatines, or Lutherans, of Quassaick and Germantown deserve recognition in the annals of the county. tlement, and who were termed " Dutch and English new inhabitants of other Confessions." Availing themselves of the provisions of the charter of the glebe providing for an annual election of trustees, the latter class, at the election in 1747, elected those There are now two German Lutheran Churches in the county, viz. : who were not Lutherans, and closed the doors of the church to a minister of that denomination except by St. Peter's, Port Jervis .. Rev. B. Kuhn. consent. The last recorded services were held July St. Paul's. Newburgh. Rev. W. R. Buehler. 3 and Oct. 2, 1748. The record closes : "This year, PRESBYTERIAN CHURCII. 1749, our minister has not been there on the shore, and the church being locked up." The Lutherans appealed to the Governor and Council to restore to

them the franchise, and the new trustees made peti- tion to vacate the charter. The latter were success- ful, and in 1751 a new charter was issued confirming the income of the glebe to the support of a " minister of the Church of England as by law established, and of a schoolmaster to teach and instruct the children of the inhabitants" of the parish, the name of which was then changed from the " Palatine Parish of Quas- saick" to the " Parish of Newburgh."

The second Lutheran Church was in the present town of Montgomery. Among the patented lands in the old precinct of Wallkill was one to Francis Har- rison, Oliver Schuyler, and Allen Jarrat (known as the Harrison Patent), issued July 7, 1720. Soon after its issue it was divided in farm-lots and an effort made to obtain settlers. What were known as Palatines supplied the materials. These immigrants were of three classes : first, those who found their way to England in 1708 and were sent to Quassaick ; second, those who had formed part of the "Swiss contingent" in the allied army under the Prince of Orange, ten thousand of whom were sent to America by England and mainly located in Columbia and Ulster Counties ; and, third, those who were induced by the represen- tations of emigrant agents to accept of homes in the New World. From one of the two last classes a col- ony was obtained for the Harrison Patent, for whose encouragement a village was laid out under the name of Germantown and a log church erected, which was long known as the " Harrison Meeting-House." The first colony was located in or about 1722, and was composed of Hans Newkirk, Hendrick Newkirk, Mattias Slimmer, Peter Kysler, Krans, Brandos, to each of whom a deed for a farm tract was given. The church building, it is said, was blown down after the war of the Revolution, and the Lu- theran element in the settlement and adjoining not being sufficiently numerous to erect another, the con- gregation became absorbed in other denominations. The ancient graveyard is the only remaining witness of the site, and in it but a single monumental inscrip- tion : " Born 1686, died 1759. A. M. M." The records its early members, some of whom are still represented by descendants residing in the town in which the an- cient church was located.

From the deeds on record the fact is clearly estab- lished that the Presbyterian Church at Goshen was the first of that denomination in the present county.

128

HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY, NEW YORK.

By the terms of the agreement under which the town- ship of Goshen was founded, the proprietors of the Wawayanda Patent agreed to give a farm-lot of two hundred aeres to such minister as the purchasers of the township lots should elect, while the purchasers were taxed ten acres on every hundred hell by them for highways and for a parsonage, a burying-ground, and other public uses. The latter stipulation was complied with on the 17th of July, 1721, and deeds for three parcels given (one parcel containing seventy acres, one sixty-one acres, and one nine acres) to John Yelverton, in trust, who certified that a minister, the Rev. John Bradner, had been settled, that a parson- age-house was then being erected, and that it was in- tended to build a meeting-house. The deed from the proprietors was executed April 17, 1721, to Bradner and his heirs, as a consideration "over and above the salary and perquisites" which should be given to him, he being recognized as "the first minister of the pre- cinct of Goshen." Bradner died in 1732. He was suc- ceeded by Rev. Silas Leonard, who served until his death in 1754. Rev. Abner Brush served from 1758 to 1766, when the Rev. Nathan Kerr was installed. He was not the " successor" of Mr. Bradner, as has been erroneously stated, although he may have been in the esteem of the people, in whose charge he remained until his death, in 1804 .* The first church edifice stood on the site now occupied by the court-house, facing the Westcott house, which was the original parsonage. The first rude stone erected in the grave- yard had the inscription, "J. Finch, First Grave, 1716," showing that interments had been made prior to the formal deeds, the lot having been one of the thirce reserved in the survey.

The second Presbyterian Church was that known as Goodwill, in the town of Montgomery. The precise date of its organization cannot be fixed, the earliest record evidence in relation to it being under date of Sept. 20, 1729, at which time John McNeal presented an application to the Synod of Philadelphia for sup- plies of preaching. The traditional evidence in re- gard to it is that it was originally composed of "about forty families that had emigrated from different parts

of Ireland, but principally from the county of Lon- donderry," and who, in their new home, were called "the people of Wallkill." Its first church edifice was erected in 1735, and its first pastor, the Rev. Jo- seph Houston, was settled in 1735. The original meeting-house gave place to a new one in 1765, and the latter, after sheltering the congregation for over one hundred years, was converted into the present edifice in 1875. During its existence not less than five congregations have sprung from its loins,-the Neelytown Church, Hamptonburgh Church, Hope- well Church, Graham's Church, Berea Church, and Montgomery Village Church, and several other soci- eties have been recruited from its ranks.

The third Presbyterian Church was the Bethlehem, of Cornwall, designated in some early church records by the name of Highlands, from the precinct which it immediately adjoined, and in which a large per- centage of its active members resided. The date of its organization is not certain, but it was probably some time about 1730,7 in which year its three first elders, Thomas Smith, Sr., Charles Clinton, and James Given, located in the district. Its first pastor was the Rev. Mr. Chalker, in 1734, who appears to have ac- cepted the charge under an agreement by which he was also to serve Goodwill Church "as pastor of both congregations," but which agreement Goodwill sub- sequently declined to execute. Its first church edifice was probably erected in 1731; the deed for the land on which it was situated was given by Dr. John Nicoll in 1739, at which time Thomas Smith, Sr., Charles Clinton, and John Given were its elders. During the early years of its existence the church had a wide-spread congregation, embracing Cornwall, Blooming-Grove, New Windsor, and Newburgh. The First Presbyterian Church of Newburgh and the First Presbyterian Church of New Windsor were planted under its care.

There are now thirty-three Presbyterian Churches in the county, viz. :

Amity

Rev. D. D. Timlow.

Bethlehem

.. David J Atwater.

Centreville

Charles W. Cooper.

Theodure A. Leggett.

Circleville

Charles II. Park.

Cornwall ..

George l'. Noble.

Canterbury

Lyman Abbott.

Jh.natoll ...

VarAnt.

Fluidit, First

Rev. Asahel A. Clark.

Second

.. Henry A. Harlow.

Goshen ....

William D. Snodgrass.

Hamptonburgh

Slater t. Heplaru.

Highland Falls .....

Abijal Greene.

Little Britain ..

R. Howard Wallace.

Middlehope

Varant.

Middletown, First

Nathaniel Elmer.

Charles Beattie.

Monroe

" Daniel A. Freeland.

Muntgomery (Goudwill).

" June'S M. Dickson.

Montgomery ( Village).

James C. Forsy th.

t The date is not certain, some authorities holding that the organiza- tion was in 1726. In the records of the church, under date of 1827, it 18 written : " According to the best information, it (the church edifice) must have been erected about the year 1731." which would imply a previous organization of the society, At least informally. Thomas Smith, Sr., and Charles Clinton, who appear in the deed of 1739 es elders of the society, were not iu the district until 1730.

* Mr. Kerr has been preserved in several historical aspects, and expe- cially by Mr. Headley in his " Clergy of the Revolution." The follow. ing anecebite from Rivington's New York Gazette, June 21, 1780, shows that he could be faretions as well as patriotic :

" Notlinn Kerr, the pastor of Goshen, in New York, in a sernum de- livered the last shearing-time to his flock, previous to the sending his deacons um ing them to collect the fleece, used many entious and pathetic arguments to induce them to jmy in their several subscriptions with a proper allowance for the depreciation of the paper emrency. He com- plained much of the injustice of a contraty conduct, and charged the neg- lect of the ministers in this respect upon them, as one of those crying sins which had called down so many heavy judgments on their heads. That these might be removed, he strongly recommended to them to re- peut querticularly of the heinous sin uf defrauding the ministers. Then, with modified eyes and hands, and plaintive voler, addressed himself to the Almighty in nearly the following words : ' O Gud ! our corn is blasted! our fruit is all ent uff ! our flax is enught under the snow, su that we shall soon have neither shift nor shirt ! And what, oh, God! dost thou in- tend to do with thy people next ?'"

Second

Juhu Turuer.

129

CHURCHES.

Mount Hope

Rov. Luther Littell.

Newburgh ( First)

William K. Hall.

(''ulvary ) ..

Jeremiah Spalle.

(Union)

Frederick B Savage.

New Windsur. VarHut.

Otisville Roy Robert 11. Craig

l'art Jervis

Alfred P'. Butsford.

Ridgelorry

Theulurr Brittain.

Spotchitos 11.

David Beattie.

Unionville

Henty F. Wadsworth.

Washingtonville ( First)

James B Beaumont.

(Second).

= Nathan M. Sherwood.

Westtown ...

Laurens T. Shuler.

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

In "a summary account of the state of the church," made by William Vesey, rector of Trinity, in 1704, it is written: "In Orange County there are about sixty families of several nations, who have no min- ister nor are able to raise a salary for one,"-the refer- ence being to the county as originally constituted. In the annals of the London "Society for the Propaga- tion of the Gospel in Foreign Parts" it is written (1728) : "The Society have received many fresh appli- cations from congregations of people in the Planta- tions to have missionaries sent to them ; 'particularly from the inhabitants of New Windsor, in Ulster County ;" and during the following year (1729), that "the Society have received a letter from the Rev. Mr. Vesey, at New York, inclosing one from Francis Har- rison, Esq., one of his majesty's council of that Prov- ince, wherein he acquaints that, pursuant to the de- cree of the Society, he had inquired into the number, condition, and circumstances of the inhabitants of New Windsor and parts adjacent, and is informed this district is twenty miles from north to south and six- teen from east to west, and contains about four hun- dred inhabitants; that the chief of them live in good credit and reputation ; but that there is no clergyman to officiate among this large body of people within eighty miles' distance." In response to this petition the society sent out the Rev. Richard Charlton, who entered upon his duties in 1731. He was soon after succeeded by the Rev. W. Kilpatrick, who served until 1734, from which time until 1744-45, when the Rev. Hezekiah Watkins was appointed, the parish was vacant. The latter established three stations in the parish,-one at New Windsor ; one on the Otter- kill, known as St. David's,* and one on the Wallkill, known as St. Andrew's. The New Windsor station was changed to Newburgh in 1747, where, soon after, the glebe which had been set apart for the support of a Lutheran minister passed into its possession, and where it became known (1751) as the Newburgh mission, and in 1770, by letters of incorporation, as St. George's. During the war of the Revolution it practically ceased to exist, but was revived in 1815, under the Rev. John Brown, who, during that year, administered " the IIoly Communion for the first time in the parish since the Revolutionary war, to the small number of three." The mission station at St. David's was also incorporated in 1770, and erected, in

1774,f a church edifice, but never completed it. The congregation was almost entirely dispersed during the

+ It is informed that a church edifice of some description was erected prior to the date here Liven, and that the building of 1774 was a second structure. When the Rev. John Sayre cante into the field as the succes- Bur of Mr. Watkins, he found this old church, as well as the one in oc- cupation at Newhough and that at St. Andrew's. None of them sermed tu conform tor his st ndard, and his first efforts. after securing for each division of the jourish n royal charter, under the titles of St. David's, St. George's, and St. Andrew's, was to build n parish church at New Windsor, where there had never been one, which should be what h . called the "capitol" of the parish. As has born st sted above, the pourish had lien known as the " Parish of New Windsor" from its founding until 1752, when, under the new charter uf the Globe. it was changed to the " Par- ich of Newhairgh." Mr. Sayre miged that New Windsor was entitled to the " rajtol' by reason of original dedication, aml from the fart that it had not only " hind af the burthen of the two first missionaries," but was still known as the " parish of New Windsor" by the Society for Propagating the Gospel, to the records of which the title should confirm. A part of his plan was to obtain an amendment to the new Glebe charter changing the name to New Windsor, and applying the revenues to the parish church. The offici d members of the parish of Newburgh consented to unite in building a church " bear New Windsor, "" Int when subse- quently asked to do su refused to agree to the proposed amendment of the (lebe charter, saying that they would not have given their nssent to the building had they had " the most distant thought" that it will " have tended to affix the Glebe at Newburgh to a church at New Windsor," und " urged their fear of the pueden Newburgh if they should consent to such a stop, and it would be nusafe for them to ride the rounds for fear of arsassi- nati ( " The matter of changing the charter sermed to have been dropped, Iut a sulocripti o for Imildling a church was raised. This subscription was made inyalde to the " rector and members of St. David's Church, in the precinct of Cornwall," on the condition that the building should ho erected " on a spot of ground to be agreed ujem and procured" on the Bonth side of Chambers' Preek, " so that the same shall be unt ami inde- jement of the jur s liction of the trustees of the parish of Newburgh." Whether the lolding was erected does not appear, nor where it was loca- tell if erected ; bonit as there is no record of any other structure than that known ne St David's, it is inferred, as stated, that it is the one referred tu in the text. The following were the subscriptions:

£ × d.

Juhn Sayre, Jr. 5 00

Vincent Matthews.

5 00

Thomas Ellis ..

Geur. Plintun ...

3 00

Wim. Ellis

Leonard Nicoll

2 00

Jolin Kl isun ......

25 0 0

Nathan el Liscomb.

10 00

Satul. Whitmore

2 10

John Cullow.

4 0

Franc - Muudevill.

1 10 0

I hnistopher Gullow,

0 4 0

1 10 0 | Isaac Ston house.

? 0 0

Juin Barton

0 16 11

Henry K Umen ..

8 0

Gillant Prrt

0 16 0 | William Jackson.

Qualiah Smith.

James JInrksom, Jr

1 0 0

Jeik t laik .....

Samuel Lugan .....

0 10 0

Cilbard Barton

2 0 | Benjamin Homin,

8 0

Benjamin I'mse

0 8 0

Sdas White ...

0 8 0

Sam. Arthur,

1 10 0

David Halliday

Alew Sherwood

8 0

Judah Hatlow.

0 16 0

Reglen thank.

Sylvanus Dusinberry

Patrik Mrt'anniel.

Samut ] Thorn ...

5 0

Davil Sontherland, St.

John t'elley

4 0

Saml. Brewster.

Saml. Brewster, dr.

1 211 0

Amos Mills

8 0

.hseph South

()

$ 0

David Sutter .....

James Sutten

Theophilus Carwin

1 10 0

Leonard Smith.

3 00

Johannah Klvek

4 u

William Edmonston

1 0 0

Rotwert Newsun ...

0 10 0

Stephen l'erk

1 10 0

Mark tar.

0 40

Joseph Word

0 10 0

Jatues Clinton

1 10 U

Joseph Drake

1 0 0

In contretion with this subject we give the following extract from the records of St. Andrew's Church, which has been kindly furnished by Rev. O. Appdegate. The statement bears evidence of having been written at a date comparatively recent and on tradition, but it is nevertheless bot without value :

" In 1732 or '3, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in For. eign Parts sent Rev. Richard Charlton to New Windsor, in Ulster Co. That part of the county was new and thinly settled, but some families of the church at New Windsor, viz. : the Alsups, Ellisons, Chambers, Lawretiers; in the interior part of the county, the Coldens, Matthews, Wilemans, MacKentush, Bull, etc. The parish of New Windsor was then said to include all these. Mr. Charlton officiated for some time In pri-

* The graveyard at Burnside, in which repose the renmins of Rev. Hezekiah Watkins, marks the ancient site.

0 0

David Mandevil.

8 0

John Juboşan

Jam s Preters ...

Thunnas Jacksml

8 0

lanac schultz.

1 0 0

William Williams ..

130

HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY, NEW YORK.

Revolution, and the building occupied as a hospital by the army. It was subsequently partly blown over and permitted to decay. A church organization, how- ever, was maintained until a comparatively recent period, and possession of the location and burying- ground* is still retained. St. Andrew's has a some- what brighter record, having escaped dissolution during the Revolution, although greatly weakened. It is said to have been the first of the three stations to erect a house of worship,-a log building with a fire- place,-which was located at the fork of the road now leading from St. Andrew's to Shawangunk and Wal- den. Soon after its incorporation in 1770, the con- gregation erceted what was considered a very fine edi- fiee, and also a parsonage-house, and was presented with ten aeres of land by Peter DuBois, and by Rich- ard Bradley, attorney-general of the province, with a 1 farmi of two hundred and twenty acres. The Rev. John Sayre, who had been appointed to succeed the Rev. Hezekiah Watkins, and who had been instru- mental in obtaining the incorporation of the three parishes named, resigned his position in 1775, through attachment to the crown, and the rectorship remained vacant until 1790. The church is now known as St. Andrew's of Walden.

vate houses, but he soon got tired of the country, and being a young man formed an attachment in New York, married and left. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel supp ied his place by removing their mis- sionary, Rev. Mr. Kilpatrick, from Cape Fair, in Newfoundland, to New Windsor ; but he having a large fabiily aod being a corpulent man soon got tired of the country, as well as they of him. The mission was vacant until 1744, when Di. Johnson, of Connecticut, recommended Mr. Hezekiah Watkins as a proper person to be sent home for Orders. A small subscription was raised for him, and he went to Eoglaod; was vi- dained and appointed by the Society as missionary with a salary of only £30, to officiate at three divisions of the mission. viz : At New Windsur on the Hudson River, at the Otterkill in Orange Co , and at the | Wallkill in Ulster Co. Watkins was a single man of easy and iooffensive disposition, so that he lived happily with his people till the day of his death. During this time no place of worship was built except at the Wallkill division, where they put up a temporary log cabin with a fire- place in it. In 1750 the inhabitants of Newburgh applied for and ob- tained a grant of 500 acres, which had formerly been granted by Queen Aun to a number of Lutherans, these Lutherans having all but one or two sold their rights and removed out of the county. These that re- maioed surrendered their right in the Glebe to the Crowo (this is an error-ED.), and it was regranted by charter. After obtaining the char- ter Mr. Watkins was put in possession of the 100 acres set aside for the minister, and he after that officiated every third Sunday in a small church on the Glebe built by the Lutherans. This church was before that kept at the town of New Windsor, and his moving to Newburgh gave offence to the heads of the church at New Windsor, and caused ao unhappy rup- ture that was detrimental to the prosperity of the church thereafter. In 1768 or '9 the Rev. John Sayre was appointed to this mission, now by the name of Newburgh, and parts adjacent. Hle took possession of the Glebe, and brought matters which had been neglected into a little better regulation. lle preached alternately at Newburgh, the Utter- kill division, and Wallkill Division or log church. He was a popular preacher, and obtained a charter of incorporation for each church, viz. : St. George's, St. Andrew's, and St. David's, all dated July 30, 1770."

* In this burying-ground, Dow entirely neglected, and from which it is said many headstones have been removed and converted into door- stones, lie the remains of Rev. Hezekiah Watkins, and also of his mother, Joanna, widow of Ephraim Watkins, and of several members of his father's family,-Abel, Joseph, Juseph (2d), Hezekiah, Jesse, and Submit, wife of Samuel. The inscription on the headstooe of Rev. Hez- ekiah is as follows: " Sacred to the memory of the Rev. Hezekiah Wat- kina, who departed this life on the 10th day uf April, 1765, aged 57."

Under the rectorship of Rev. Frederick Van Horn, St. Andrew's made some progress after 1790, and through his efforts established a congregation (now St. James') at Goshen, but it was not until after the settlement of Rev. John Brown at.Newburgh, in 1815, that the Episcopal Church-the successor of the Church of England-began to recover the ground which it had lost during the Revolution. Although deprived of the income of the glebe, which, in the absence of "a minister of the Church of England, as by law established," had been, by act of the Legis- lature in 1804, permanently applied to the mainten- ance of a school, Mr. Brown succeeded in reviving St. George's Church under its old name, and subse- quently in organizing St. Thomas' at New Windsor. Missions under his care were also founded at Port Jervis (now Grace Church , and at Monticello, Sul- livan Co. (now St. John's Church), in which latter he performed divine service once in three months for about ten years. In 1860, St. George's parish was divided and St. Paul's Church established.

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History of Orange County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 31

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