History of Orange County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 32

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 32

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The following are the Episcopal Churches and mis- sions in the county at the present time, with the date of their admission to the Diocesan Convention :

1785.1 St. George's, Newburgh; Rev. John Brown, D.D., Rector Emer- itus; Rev. Octavins Applegate, Rector.

1785.7 St. Andrew's, Walden. . Rey. Francis Washburn.

1785.1 St. David's, Washingtonville. G. Van Horn, missionary.

1803. St. James', Goshen.

Wm. 11. DeL. Graonis.

1818. St. Thomas', New Windsor. 11. Mckim, Jr.

1845. Grace, Middletown ... G. D. Silliman.

1850. Holy Jovocents, llighland Falls. W. R Thomas.

1854. Grace, Port Jervis ..

44 Alex. Capron.

1858. St. John's, Canterbury Wm. E. Snowden.

1860. St. Paul's, New burgh Rufus Emery.

1866. Christ, Warwick, vacaot at present ; last rector, Rev. Alf. Golds- borongh

1868. St. John's, Greenwood Rev. Saoiuel Moran.

1869. Grace, Monroe Il. A. Dows

1871. St. George's Mission, Newburgh. A. C. Hoehing.

REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH.

At an early date-one authority says August, 1716 -the Rev. Petrus Vas, pastor of the Reformed Dutch Church in Kingston, visited the settlements which had been founded on the Delaware River, and which were mainly composed of German, Dutch, and Huguenot immigrants, who had found their way thither from Kingston and New Paltz. How far his circuit ex- tended is not known ; but prior to 1737 at least four informal societies were in existence, and in that year were organized as the "united churches of Mini- sink." These churches were the Walpack Church, in the Walpack bend of the Delaware; the Shapenac Church, seven miles above; the Minisink Church, twelve miles farther on ; and eight miles farther up, in the forks of the Delaware and Neversink, the Maghaghkemek Church. Dominie Vas was succeeded by Rev. George Wilhelmus Mancius, in 1732, and continued the work which his predecessor had inaug- urated, having, prior to 1741, baptized over one hun- dred children in the Maghaghkemek Church. The first settled pastor of the four churches was Rev. Johannes Casparus Fryenmoek, in 1741. The first

+ Organized 1782; chartered 1770.

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CHURCHES.

church edifice of the Maghaghkemek congregation was erected in 1743,-a log structure of perhaps thirty feet square. This building was burnt by Brant in his raid in 1779. Its successor was a building forty feet square, two stories high, and stood on the site of the original edifice by the roadside, near what is now the junction of Main Street and Jersey Avenue in Port Jervis. This building served the purposes of the congregation until 1833, when it was taken down and a larger one erected, and formally dedicated as the "Reformed Dutch Church of Deerpark." The edi- fice now occupied was erected in 1868.

All the ministers named in connection with the church at Maghaghkemek apparently performed no little itinerant work, not only on the Delaware River, but in the Wallkill Valley. It is at least presumable that Dominie Vas especially made the present town of Montgomery one of his stations, as his successor, Dominie Mancins, found there in 1732, if not a society, those who were ready to be organized as such, and gave them constitution under the name of the German Reformed Church of Wallkill, of which Johannes Yong Bloet (Youngblood) was the first elder, and Jacob Broch Slaber (Bookstaver ) the first deacon. Its first church edifice was a log building, which is said to have been so "constructed that the upper story projected on all sides beyond the lower one, and served as a block-house for defense against attacks from the Indians, as well as a house of worship. The only way of entrance was by means of a ladder, and the hour of service was announced by blowing a tin horn."* This tradition may or may not be true; if true, the probabilities are that the building was erected for a block-house during the French and In- dian war of 1756, when a number of such structures were made in Ulster and Orange, and that it was sub- sequently occupied by the society. Whatever may be the actual facts, it was known and recognized as a church in 1758,-Ballard Beekford, of New York, giving to the society, in that year, four acres of land described as being "on the west side of Wallkill River, lying a little above the mill known as Mingus' mill,t where the High Dutch church now stands," tbe land to be converted into a burying-ground. In 1760 the log church was taken down and a frame structure erected, which was occupied until 1803, when it gave place to the present brick edifice. The first baptisms were in 1734, by Dominie Mancius. The first settled minister of the society was Rev. John Michael Kern in 1772.

While the Dutch ministers at Esopus were itinera- ting in the Wallkill and Delaware Valleys, a society of the same faith had been founded at Orangetown, in the extreme southeastern portion of original Orange. It was organized Oct. 24, 1694. Its first

minister was the Rev. Guilliam Bartholf, and its first church edifice was erected in 1716. How early mem- bers of this society found their way to the Wawayanda Patent cannot be stated, but the fact is well ascertained that the families of Blauvelt, Demarest, Bartholf, Cooper, Van Houton, and DeHart, who were located in Warwick prior to 1760, were of the Orangetown stock ; and the conclusion is not improbable that they maintained the faith of their fathers, and received pastoral attention from the Orangetown Church. It is stated, however, that not being in sufficient number to maintain a society, and being desirous of living in harmony with their neighbors, they consented to unite with the Presbyterians in founding a church at War- wick in 1764 or '65. In 1770, John Morin Scott, whose career during the Revolution is not unfamiliar, and who was then interested in the Wawayanda Patent, gave land for the erection of a Presbyterian church and for a burial-ground, and William Wick- ham added one acre to the gift. In 1773 or '74 a building was erected and inclosed, but was not com- pleted until 1792. Presbyterian service was main- tained until 1803, when, the Dutch element being the most numerous and influential, it was agreed that, as the deed of the property was in the Presbyterians, it should continue to be held by Presbyterian trus- tees, while the Reformed Dutch Consistory should have charge of all the spiritual interests of the church. It was also agreed that the name should be the " Pres- byterian and Reformed Dutch Church of Warwick." These preliminaries having been settled, application was made to the Classis of Paramus for constitution, in response to which that duty was performed by deputation from the Classis, Jan. 7, 1804. Andrew Ackerman and Cornelius Demarest were the first elders; Aaron Taylor and John G. Ackerson the first deacons ; and Rev. Charles Hardenbergh the first settled pastor. Under its title of 1804 the church re- mains at the present time, although practically classed as one of the American Reformed (Dutch) Churches of the country.

There are now in the county seven American (Dutch) Reformed Churches, viz. :

Cuddebackville, Deerpark .. Rev. John Du Bois.

Deerpark, Port Jervis

רי Henry M. Voorhees.

Montgomery Beren

H. S. Scheuck.

J. Milliken

Newburgh

J. Ilalsted Carroll.

Walden Warwick

te Martin V. Schoonmaker.

= Vernon Carol.

CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.

Although never obtaining any considerable foot- hold in the county, Congregationalism has its rank among the early religious organizations, having been established in the Blooming-Grove Church in 1759, but whether as the result of agreement among settlers of different denominations who united in that form, or whether absolutely founded by Congregationalists of the New England type, cannot now, perhaps, be definitely ascertained, although it maintained the former character for many years and proved very suc-

* Jacob Frank Howe, " American Ilistorical Records," Jannary, 1873. + Mingus' mill was erected in 1722-23, by Johannes Mingus, who, it ia said in an old MSS., " misfortunately happened to be killed soon after." Mattis Miltzbaugh married his widow, and continued the mill.

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY, NEW YORK.

cessful in minding its own business. Its first house of worship was erected in 1759; that now occupied by the society was erected in 1823. The following are the Congregational Churches in the county :

Blooming-Grove .. Rev. Warren Hathaway.

Howell's. · C. B. Wilkin

Middletown " F. K. Marvin.

ASSOCIATE AND ASSOCIATE REFORMED PRESBY- TERIAN CHURCHES.

Members of both the Associate and the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Churches were among the early immigrants of New Windsor and Wallkill. Perhaps too weak in numbers to maintain societies of their own, they attached themselves to the Presbyterian Church of Goodwill, or to Bethlehem. In 1752 the Rev. John Cuthbertson, of the Associate Presbytery of Scotland, was sent to America by that body, and in 1753, Revs. Galletly and Arnot, representing the As- sociate Reformed, followed Cuthbertson. Very soon after his arrival Cuthbertson visited the Wallkill country, and organized (1753) one of the "praying societies" then in vogue in the church which he rep- resented, and which, in 1795, became the " Reformed Presbyterian Church of Coldenham." At a later period immigrants of the same faith established a " praying society in Newburgh, which, in 1816 or '17, became the First Reformed Presbyterian Church of Newburgh," and from its loins sprang the "Second Reformed Presbyterian Church," in 1854.

It is not of record that either Galletly or Arnot visited the district, although it is possible that one or the other of them may have done so and inaugurated a society of the Associate Reformed Church at Little Britain. Well-ascertained facts, however, seem to indicate that that denomination had its introduction here through the missionary labors of Rev. Robert Annan, who came over from Scotland in 1761, and who, before the expiration of ten years, established preaching stations throughout the Wallkill country from Little Britain to Bloomingburgh. In 1765 so- cieties had been formed at Little Britain and in Wall- kill of sufficient strength to erect houses of worship, and to warrant the calling, in 1767, of Mr. Annan to become their settled pastor, in which relation he was installed Oct. 2, 1772. The informal societies of 1765 became the " Associate Reformed Church of Little Britain" and the "Associate Reformed Church of Neelytown." From the latter a colony organized what is known as "Graham's Church" of Crawford, in 1809; but after that event it dwindled away, and in 1831 what remained of it was incorporated in the Presbyterian Church of Hamptonburgh. Meanwhile a number of the members of the Little Britain Church who had removed to Newburgh took steps to organize a church at the latter place, which was accomplished in 1797, under the title of the " First Associate Re- formed Church of Newburgh," from which a colony organized, in 1837, the " Union Associate Reformed Church." The Little Britain Church and the Union

Church are now attached to the Old School branch of the Presbyterian Church. The "First Associate Re- formed Church of Newburgh" alone maintains its ancient faith, having refused to accept the union of the Associate and the Associate Reformed Churches by which the United Presbyterian Church was formed in 1859, or to follow the lead of its associate churches and attach itself to the Old School Presbytery. A number of its dissenting members, however, accepted the Associate and the Associate Reformed union, and organized, in 1859, the "First United Presbyterian Church of Newburgh."

The following are the churches of these several denominations at the present time :

Hefurmed Presbyterian.

Coldenham Rev. J W. Shaw.

New burgh ( First) " Saml. ('mili-le.

Newburgh (Second) J Renwick Thompson.

Unid Presbyterian.

Newburgh (First) Rev. J. G. D. Findley.

Graham (Crawford) " John Erskine.

Associate Reformed.

Newburgh (First) .Rev. J. Macnaughton.

BAPTIST CHURCHt.

Baptist missionaries were in the county, on both its northern and southern border, as early probably as 1740. From 1740 to 1780 the Rev. Mr. Halstead, then pastor of the church at Fishkill, performed mis- sionary labors at different places in Duchess and Ulster Counties, and in 1782 succeeded in organi- zing a branch of the society in the precinct of New Marlborough, then recently a portion of the precinct of Newburgh. At a regular meeting of this branch church, held on the 24th of May, 1785, at the house of Reuben Drake (Elder James Phillips presiding), a petition was presented by Nathan Ellet and Wil- liam Purdy, on behalf of themselves and others, ask- ing that " the society be constituted a separate church, and that Jonathan Atherton be ordained pastor." The application was granted. The ordination as well as the services constituting the church were held on the 27th of May. The minutes state that Elder Dakens preached the ordination sermon from Timo- thy iv. 8. After prayer by Elder Cole, Eller Dakens gave the charge to the pastor and to the church. " Elder Phillips gave Bro. Atherton the hand and said, in presence of the whole congregation, that he owned him as an elder; and so Elder Phillips went to prayer. When done they sang a psalm, went out, and now we are left to ourselves." The organization thus formed was called "The Baptist Church of Pleasant Valley." In 1789 a branch church was es- tablished at Latingtown, and another at New Paltz. On the 24th of April, 1790, " a number of members were set off by themselves," and on the 2d of June following were constituted the "Church at New- burgh." In 1806 the society last named erected what was called the "Stone Meeting-house," near Luptondale, in the town of Newburgh, and estab-

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CHURCHES.

lished a burial-ground. William Brundage served as its pastor from 1790 to 1795; Levi Hall, from 1796 to 1799; Jethro Johnson, from 1796 to 1803; Luke Davis, from 1803 to 1811; William C. Thompson, from 1812 to 1815; and John Ellis, from 1815 to 1817, -in which latter year the society united with the Pleasant Valley Church, under the title of the " Union Church of Pleasant Valley and Newburgh," with al- ternate services, an arrangement which was continued until 1832, when the Newburgh branch ceased to exist, leaving as its only visible record at the present time the walls of its meeting-house and the burial- place of its dead.

The introduction of the denomination at Warwick was through the early settlers who removed thither from Connecticut, who in 1764 organized what is now known as the Old-School Baptist Church of Warwick. Several of the members of the society having acquaintance with Rev. James Benedict, of Stratfield, Conn., a licentiate of the Baptist Church at that place, he was invited to accept the pastoral charge of the society. He visited. Warwick under this invitation in November, 1764, and in March, 1765, entered upon the pastorate, continuing in that relation until 1777, when he resigned and removed to Westmoreland, Pa. The church thus founded was the first of any denomination in Warwick, and its services, which were held for some years at private houses, were attended by all the church-going people of the neighborhood. In 1774 a house for public worship was erected on what is now the corner, at the junction of the road leading from the village of War- wick and the road leading from the Welling school- house to Bellvale. In 1809-10 the society purchased land in the village of Warwick, and erected the edi- fice which it now occupies. Pastor Benedict's suc- cessor was the Rev. Thomas B. Montague, 1788, who was succeeded by Thomas Stevens, who was suc- ceeded by Lebbius Lathrop, and continued in charge until 1819, during which period the church became substantially established in its new location.

Although at one time comparatively numerous and influential, there are now but three organizations of the Old-School branch of the Baptist Church in the county, viz. :

Middletown .Elder Gilbert Beche. .4 Gillwrt Berlus

New Vernou (Mount Hope)

Warwick ...

19 William Pollard.

The New-School Baptist churches came into the county in 1817, through missionaries appointed by the Hudson River Baptist Association, who founded societies at Newburgh in 1821, and Cornwall in 1823. Of that branch of the denomination there are now six churches, viz. :

Cornwall ..... Rev.

Mi.b.Hetown

W. K. Wright.

Newburgh ..

€4

Arthur Jours.

Oratigr ( Uni anville)

Port Jeivi ....

1tu. Mckinney.

Warwick

D. C. Littiefield.

METHODISM.

The history of the origin of Methodism, and that of its founders, John and Charles Wesley, and their associates, is too well known to require notice in these pages. A brief review of the progress of the society in this country, and of the system which was adopted to carry forward its missionary labors is, however, perhaps necessary to a proper understanding of the manner in which it was introduced in the county. In 1766 a company of Irish emigrants, of whom Philip Embury was one, organized a society in New York, and in 1768 they erected in that city the first Methodist church in America. About the same time Robert Strawbridge, who was also a native of Ireland, organized a society in Maryland, and built a log meeting-house near Pipe Creek, in that province. Other immigrants from the British Isles, who had settled in Philadelphia, laid the foundations of a so- ciety in that city, which soon rivaled, in point of numbers and active zeal, the one in New York. En- couraged by the progress of the sect in America, Mr. Wesley sent over two additional laborers in 1769, viz. : Richard Boardman and Joseph Pilmore, the former being stationed at New York, and the latter at Philadelphia. In 1771, Francis Asbury and Rich- ard Wright were added to the work ; and in 1773, Thomas Rankin and George Shadford. Rankin was appointed by Mr. Wesley "General Assistant of the Societies in America," and soon after his arrival he issued a call for " a conference of all the preachers in America," with a view to systematize the work. The meeting was held at Philadelphia, July 4, 1773, and was the first " conference" that ever assembled in this country. The society then embraced eleven hundred and sixty members, of whom five hundred were in Maryland.

During the war of the Revolution the society grad- ually decreased in New York and Philadelphia, but continued to spread rapidly in the Southern States, so that while its total membership at the close of the war was thirteen thousand seven hundred and forty, only about eleven hundred were resident north of Phila- delphia. After the peace Wesley suggested to his followers in the United States that they should make an organization independent of the society in Eng- land. This was accordingly done in 1785, and the title of the " Methodist Episcopal Church" was adopted to designate the new denomination. Thomas Coke and Philip Asbury were appointed bishops, or super- intendents, and the society was divided into districts, over which "elders" were stationed, under whose charge two or more preachers were placed. The preachers were then styled "assistants," and the fields in which they labored were called "circuits." The itinerant principle, which is still one of the distinc- tive features of the Methodist Church, was adopted, and the preachers held their "circuits" only for a year. In this way the work was zealously prosecuted, often amid extreme hardships, and the society re-

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY, NEW YORK.

gained the ground which it had for a time lost, and won new triumphs in the North as well as the South.

In 1786, New York and New Jersey were divided into two " elder districts," one of which embraced the East Jersey, Newark, New York City, and Long Island " circuits," and formed the extreme northern limit of the society in the United States at that time. The East Jersey "circuit" bordered on Orange County, and had stationed on it as "assistants" John McClaskey and Ezekiel Cooper. While Mr. Cooper was on this circuit (1786), one of his public services was attended by Col. David McCamley, who invited him to preach at his residence in the town of Warwick. Mrs. Arthur Smith, a sister of Col. McCamley, was visiting her brother at the time of the service there, and at her solicitation Mr. Cooper accompanied her to her residence in Middlehope, where he held the first Methodist service in the town of Newburgh. The date at which it was held cannot now be ascer- tained, but it was probably in October, 1786. Mr. Cooper, accompanied by Samuel Pardy, also visited at this time John Woolsey, near Milton, and having established here an outpost for missionary labor far beyond the bounds of his circuit, he returned to New Jersey. Six weeks later, John McClaskey and John Cooper passed over the same route, and extended the new circuit to the Paltz, where they held services at the residences of Hendrick Deyo and Andries Du Bois. They also stopped in the village of Newburgh, and preached in the house of Elnathan Foster, where a " class" was soon after formed. In January, Ezekiel Cooper again visited the district, and held service in the house of Samuel Fowler in Middlehope, which was henceforth a regular preaching station until 1813. From 1813 to 1822 the meetings were held in the summer in a barn owned by Daniel Holmes, and in the winter in Mr. Fowler's house.

The success which had attended the efforts of Mr. Cooper and his associates led to the organization, in 1788, of the Flanders (N. J.) circuit, which embraced this section of country. Of this circuit James O. Cromwell was elder, and his assistants were Jesse Lee, Aaron Hutchinson, and John Lee. It had five hundred and forty-three members. In 1789 it was again divided and the Newburgh circuit established, its preachers being Nathaniel B. Mills and Andrew Harpending ; James D. Cromwell, presiding elder. It embraced two hundred and sixty-one of the mem- bership of Flanders circuit, and was divided into the following " classes" or informal societies, viz. :

Saml. Fowler's, Middlehope. Elnathan Foster's, Newburgh. Munson Ward's, Fostertown. George Stanton's, Gardnertown. Daniel Holmes', Middlehope. Jacob Dayton's, bear Latingtown. Latingtowu, Latingtown. Samnel Wyatt's, Keytown. Schultz', Dolsentown. Widow Allison's, Pochock. Warwick, Wurwick.

John Ellison's, New Windsor. Luft Smith's, near Marlborough. David Ostrander's, Plattekill.

David Stephens', in the Clove. Richard Garrisou's, in the Clove. Saml. Ketcham's, near Sugar Loaf. Arter's.

Barton's.

John Mc Whorter's. Long Pond.

These classes continued to be visited by the circuit preachers until they ripened into societies of sufficient strength to support located ministers, or until that end was attained by the union of two or more classes. The following preachers appear on the record in con- nection with what was then known as the Newburgh circuit :

1790 .- Benjamin Abbott, Joseph Lowell, Samuel Martindale.

1791 .- Jethro Johnson, Joshua Taylor.

1792 .- Samuel Fowler, Lawrence McCombs.

1793 .- Lawrence MeCombs, Smith Weeks.

1794 .- Samuel Fowler, Moses Crane, William Storm. This year Marbletown circuit was connected with Newburgh, and appointments for preaching made at Woodstock, Hurley, Shokan, Tongue (or Clove), Shandaken, and Beaverkill.

1795 .- Matthias Swain and David Buck.

1796 .- Jacob Egbert and John Finnegan. 1797 .- Samuel Fowler, Thomas Woolsey. 1798-99 .- Robert Green, William Storms.

1800 .- Samuel Fowler, Elijah Woolsey.

1801 .- Samuel Fowler, Matthias Swain, D. Buck.

1802 .- James Herron, Thomas Stratton. Ulster circuit was taken from Newburgh and reported sepa- rately.

1803 .- Thomas Stratton, Mitchell E. Bull.

1804 .- Robert Dillon, Isaac Candee. Haverstraw was added to the circuit appointments.

1805 .- Zenas Covel, Isaac Candee. Haverstraw withdrawn from the circuit and church organized. Rev. W. Vredenburgh appointed minister.

1806 .- Asa Cummings, William Keith.

1807 .- William Keith, John Crawford.

1808 .- John Robertson, J. Coleman, and William Jewett. The Elnathan Foster class organized as the Methodist Episcopal Church of the parish of New- burgh, and steps taken to erect a church edifice, which was first occupied in 1810. Robertson planted Methodism at Florida, 1808.

1809 .- Seth Crowell, John Finnegan. The New- burgh circuit was divided, and New Windsor circuit formed, with Revs. Thomas Woolsey and James Cole- man, preachers; Andrew Cunningham and Benjamin Westlake, local preachers; Henry Still, James Ben- jamin, Thomas Collard, and Jonathan Stevens, ex- horters. The circuit embraced the following classes :

Classes.

Leuders.

New Windsor (Jolin Ellison).

Sugar Loaf (Samuel Ketcham) Henry Wisner.

Smith's Clove. Jacob Frederick.

Lower Clove

Francis Wygant.

Oxford

Zophar Ketcham.

Warwick ...

Cornelios Jones.

Amity .James Benjamin.

Butter Hill

Daniel Wood.

Ketchamtown (now Mountainville*).

* Ketchamtown was settled about the line of the Revolution, hy the grandfather of Benjamin Ketcham, who erected what were long known as Ketcham's mills. John Orr bonght and rebuilt the mills, and when the Shortcut Railroad was opened, secured a station, to which he gave the name of Mountainville. It will be seen that the society there is one of the oldest in the conuty.

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History of Orange County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 32

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