USA > New York > Monroe County > Rochester > History of Rochester Presbytery from the earliest settlement of the country, embracing original records of Ontario Association, and the presbyteries of Ontario, Rochester (former), Tennessee River, and Rochester City > Part 5
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22
The new Presbytery at the time of its organization con- sisted of 52 ministers of whom 17 were pastors, 16 stated supplies, 4 foreign missionaries, 2 secretaries, 2 teachers and 11 without charge ; also 3 licentiates, 41 churches and 7,214 communicants.
Since that time the names of 107 ministers have been added to our roll, making a total of 157. Of these 107 seventeen were received by ordination and the remaining ninety by letter from other bodies. Of the seventeen who were ordained eight were installed over churches as follows :
June 4, 1873, Rev. George K. Ward at Dansville.
July 30, 1874, Rev. Fisher Gutelius at Moscow.
October 8, 1874, Rev. George C. Jewel at Parma Centre. November 10, 1874, Rev. John K. Fowler at Caledonia. May 25, 1875, Rev. Lewis H. Morey at Pittsford.
October 12, 1885, Rev. Gerard B. F. Hallock at Wheat- land.
September 30, 1886, Rev. Robert Kerr Wick at Sparta First and Second.
May 25, 1887, Rev. Bevard D. Sinclair at Fowlerville.
The other nine were ordained " sine titulo," as follows :
June 12, 1878, Rev. Eneas McLean and Rev. James W. White at the Central Church, Rochester.
58
HISTORY OF ROCHESTER PRESBYTERY.
October 29, 1878, Rev. John P. Campbell at Caledonia. June 18, 1883, Rev. Theodore S. Day at Rochester First. October 2, 1883, Rev. Evan R. Evans at North Sparta.
November 15, 1883, Rev. Theodore W. McNair at South Sparta.
September 29, 1855, Rev. Frank P. Gilman at North Sparta.
May 23, 1887, Rev. Albert S. Bacon at Victor.
Three of the aforesaid were ordained with special refer- ence to the foreign work, viz : Rev. Eneas McLean who went to South America, Rev. Theodore W. McNair who went to Japan, and Rev. Frank P. Gilman who went to China. These added to the four already named have made seven of our number who have labored on the foreign field, to which we may add two others, Rev. F. De W. Ward, D. D., and Rev. T. Dwight Hunt, now belonging to this body, who were foreign missionaries prior to the formation of this Presbytery.
In addition to the original 17 pastoral relations and the 8 which have been already named in connection with ordination, there have been 33 others constituted, making 58 in all ; of these three have been terminated by the death of the incumbents, thirty-seven by action of Presbytery, while eighteen still remain.
Upon the roll of licentiates 30 names have been added to the original 3, making 33 in all. Of these six have been received by letter from other Presbyteries, the remaining twenty-four have been examined and licensed by this body.
Sixteen of our licentiates have been ordained by this body, fourteen have been dismissed to other Presbyteries, one has died and two still remain upon our list.
Since its organization this Presbytery has received nine- teen candidates for the gospel ministry, nine of whom have subsequently been licensed, one has turned to other avoca- tions and nine are still pursuing their preparatory studies.
59
HISTORY OF ROCHESTER PRESBYTERY.
In making the statement that at the time of its organiza- tion this Presbytery consisted of 41 churches, there was a slight chronological inaccuracy made for the purpose of crediting the church at Tuscarora to the Presbytery of Genesee River and that at Union Corners to that of Ontario, but as matter of fact these churches after the re-union of the two assemblies at Pittsburgh and prior to the formation of this Presbytery had effected a union and thus came into this body as one church, making the number 40. This union, however, proved to be unhappy and the same was dissolved by act of Presbytery in the fall of 1873, since which time the two churches have appeared separately upon our roll.
On the 19th of October, 1870, the church of Brighton, which before had been Congregational, was received by this Presbytery, it appearing that said church had perfected its organization by the election of a board of ruling elders.
On the 13th of September, 1871, in accordance with the united request of the churches of Nunda and Oakland, the church at Oakland was declared by Presbytery to be extinct and its members were added to the church of Nunda.
On the 19th of October, 1871, the Memorial Church in the city of Rochester was organized by a commission of Presbytery appointed for that purpose and its name was added to our roll, said church being formed from a mission Sabbath-school established years before that time by the Brick Church.
The church at Victor prior to the reunion had belonged to the Presbytery of Rochester and the synod of Genesee, but by the general reorganization at the time of reunion it was assigned to the Presbytery and Synod of Geneva. By the request of the church, which was sustained by both synods, the General Assembly of 1874 transferred the church to this body.
The church of Avon Springs, which at the time of
60
HISTORY OF ROCHESTER PRESBYTERY.
reunion was virtually extinct, having no minister and never having had a church edifice, and reporting only 35 mem- bers, was subsequently resuscitated and by a commission of Presbytery reorganized as a new church in the year 1876, taking the name of the Central Church of Avon, which has subsequently built one of our most attractive church edifices, and for years has been prosperous and self- sustaining.
In compliance with an overture from the church at Fowlerville, which had been Congregational, a commission was appointed by this body to reorganize the same as a Presbyterian church which was accomplished on the 22d of April, 1878, and the name of the church was added to our roll.
As the result of the labors of two missionaries in South America then belonging to this body, Rev. Robert McLean and his brother Rev. Eneas McLean, a Presbyterian church which was organized by them in Concepcion, Chili, was at the request of said church received by this Presbytery on the 21st of September, 1880 ; the name of said church was retained upon our roll until September 18th, 1883, when, the Presbytery of Chili having been formed, the request of the church to be transferred to said Presbytery was granted.
In the year 1858 the church at Geneseo village, known as Geneseo Second, was divided ; the new church being organized by the Genesee River Presbytery, which belonged to the Old School Assembly, was called the "Central Pres- byterian Church of Geneseo," the original church still retaining its connection as heretofore with the Presbytery of Ontario. After maintaining a separate existence for twenty-one years, these two churches, at their own request, were consolidated by act of Presbytery, March 30th, 1880, with very happy results up to the present time.
Nor can we fail to recall in this connection the rare self- denial which was manifested by the Rev. Charles S. Durfee,
61
HISTORY OF ROCHESTER PRESBYTERY.
pastor of the Central Church, in relinquishing his beloved flock, to which he had ministered for almost six years, in order to facilitate the union which his judgment approved. The united church took the name of " Geneseo Village."
The church at Penfield which was organized in 1806, and therefore among the oldest in all this section of the state, had by removals and deaths become very feeble at the time of reunion, reporting that year only 40 members, with its pulpit vacant, which with a few exceptions remained vacant with a decreasing number of members, until Presbytery, on the 18th of June, 1883, declared the church extinct. The trustees of the Presbytery subsequently sold the property and appropriated the proceeds of the sale to benevolent causes.
In response to a petition of 68 persons asking to be con- stituted the North Presbyterian Church of Rochester, a commission was appointed by Presbytery, which organized the same on the 12th day of February. 1884, said church being formed from a mission school which had been sus- tained in that part of the city by the Central Church, which also had provided the building, first occupied as a school, and afterwards as a church.
In the village of Piffard, a church of twenty individuals was organized by a commission of Presbytery, on the 24th of November, 1886. The building in which this church now worship was erected as a Dutch Reformed Church many years ago, and after that church became extinct, relig- ious services were for years sustained by the church at Geneseo, which church contributed the most of the mem- bers to form the new church.
Emmanuel Church, of Rochester, is the result of a mission school established by the First Church of that city, which also provided the edifice first occupied as a school and now as a church. This church was organized by Pres-
62
HISTORY OF ROCHESTER PRESBYTERY.
bytery on the 2nd day of May, 1887, consisting of sixty- eight members.
With these losses and gains, which we have here indi- cated, our roll of churches has been increased from forty- one to forty-five.
During these years there have been 10,400 communicants added to these churches, of whom, 6,618 were by examina- tion, and 3,782 by certificate. The rite of baptism has been administered to 5,265 persons, of whom 2,856 were adults, and 2,409 were infants. There has been a commend- able promptness on the part of the churches, in furnishing their annual reports for the Assembly's minutes, so that we have yet to have the first star affixed to any of our churches since the time of reunion.
Presbytery at its first meeting, Sept. 14, 1870, appreci- ating the difficulty of so large a body taking the proper over-sight of all its smaller churches, divided its territory into three districts, as follows :
1st. The County of Monroe, with the exceptions of Mendon, Honeoye Falls and Scottsville.
2d. Springwater, Livonia, Geneseo, Lima, Avon, Caledonia, Scottsville, Honeoye Falls and Mendon.
3d. Leicester, Mount Morris, Groveland, Sparta, West Sparta, Dansville, Nunda and Ossian.
Presbytery at this time appointed conveners of these districts, leaving it for each district to perfect its own organ- ization, with a view to promoting the spirituality of the churches and the mutual improvement of the ministers.
The first district never organized, it being thought that the Ministers' Association of the city, which, from that time to the present has been a vigorous body, holding weekly meetings, would quite largely do the work of a more extended association which should include the churches.
The second district was organized at once and adopted
63
HISTORY OF ROCHESTER PRESBYTERY.
the plan of monthly meetings, going from church to church, each meeting consisting of two services.
This association was, for a time, very prosperous, but the interest was maintained only for a few years, after which the organization was abandoned.
The third, or southern district, which was organized in 1870, has maintained a prosperous existence up to the pres- ent time, holding two meetings each year, the one in Decem- ber occupying two days, and aiming especially to promote a revival spirit, while that in May is for one day, and of a more social character.
Provision has also been made by this association for the annual visitation of all its churches by sending two minis- ters to each church to hold special services for two days. The second district also provided for similar vistations.
After the abandonment of the second district, Presbytery, on the 21st of September, 1880, enlarged the bounds of the southern district, so as to include the whole of Livingston County, the church at Honeoye Falls being soon after added. The semi-annual"meetings of this body have been well attended and the interest well sustained.
Prior to the year 1885, there had been a growing convic- tion that the stated meetings of Presbytery were too brief and too much restricted to mere business, which resulted in the inauguration of a plan that year for prolonging the meetings and providing for popular services with a view to the promotion of Christian work among the churches, which has been continued up to the present time with the happiest results.
The annual narratives have attested the healthy spiritual condition of the churches, no year passing without the report of some revivals. The labors of the evangelist, Rev. E. E. Davidson, in Rochester, Brockport, Lima, Geneseo, Mount Morris and Honeoye Falls, have been blessed in very large ingatherings, while the powerful revivals wrought of God
64
HISTORY OF ROCHESTER PRESBYTERY.
through the labors of Rev. Charles G. Finney in the years 1830, 1842 and 1856 in the City of Rochester, still retain their impress upon the churches in this section, and are often referred to by those who were then converted, as characterized by very strong conviction of sin, followed by very positive evidence of a change of heart.
The absence of strife is worthy of special mention. Upon the reunion the old party lines were at once obliterated and all seemed desirous of heeding the apostolic injunction, " In honor preferring one another," and this is all the more noticeable when we remember that in connection with the great controversy which had prevailed our territory had been a prominent battle ground, and our ministers and churches had been very earnest-if not sometimes bitter partisans.
The peace of the churches has been attested by the almost entire absence of judicial business, nor have the few exceptions to the rule been traceable to former alienations, so that we may rejoice in the assertion that during all these eighteen years, our body has been as compact and homo- geneous as could have been expected had there never been a schism.
In regard to benevolence we are able to give as the aggregate of our statistical reports for the years 1870 to 1887, inclusive, the following amounts :
Home Missions,
$156,811.00
Foreign Missions,
132,186.00
Education,
29,684.00
Publication and Sabbath-Schools, -
25,303.00
Church Erection,
34,466.00
Ministerial Relief, -
14,237.00
Freedmen,
20,251.00
Sustentation,
5.350.00
Aid for Colleges,
3,032.00
Assembly's Fund, -
10,046.81
Congregational,
- 1,782,235.00
Miscellaneous,
81,710.00
Giving us a grand total of -
$2,295,311.81
65
HISTORY OF ROCHESTER PRESBYTERY.
WOMAN'S MISSIONARY SOCIETY.
Prominent among the agencies for the collection of these funds and for awakening an earnest spirit of missions among our churches, we gratefully recognize the " Wom- an's Missionary Society of Rochester Presbytery," which was organized in the Central Church of Rochester, April 15, 1873, and which, from that day to this, has been an increas- ing power for good within our bounds. The officers first chosen were Mrs. H. D. Gregory, of Geneseo, President, and Mrs. D. H. Palmer, of Brockport, Secretary and Treasurer. Twelve churches were represented in this soci- ety at its organization, viz. : Brockport, Caledonia, Dans- ville, Geneseo Central, Geneseo Second, Livonia, Mount Morris, Ogden, Rochester Central, Rochester Memorial, Rochester Third and Sparta Second, and before the close of that year eight others were added, viz. : Groveland, Geneseo First, Ossian, Rochester Brick, Rochester St. Peters, Sweden, Tuscarora, and Union Corners.
Others were added from time to time, as follows :
In 1874, Gates, Lima, Rochester First, Rochester West- minster, Wheatland and Victor.
In 1875, Moscow, Parma Centre and Sparta First.
In 1876, Brighton and Nunda.
In 1877, Avon, Avon Central, Honeoye Falls and Webster. In 1878, Rochester Calvary.
In 1879, Chili, Fowlerville, Mendon and Pittsford.
In 1883, Clarkson.
In 1885, Rochester North.
In 1887, Rochester Emmanuel.
Making in all, forty-three of our forty-five churches which have had these auxiliary societies.
The Presbyterial Society meets twice each year with a very large attendance. The amounts contributed by this society in 1873 were :
.
66
HISTORY OF ROCHESTER PRESBYTERY.
Home Missions, -
-
-
$ 406.75 1,832.65
Foreign Missions, -
Supplies,
- -
745.99
Making a total of - - -
$ 2,985.39
The amounts contributed the present year, 1887-8, are :
Home Missions, -
$ 1,938.13
Freedmen,
704.94
Foreign Missions,
4,628.63
Supplies, - -
3,353.00
Total,
$10,634.70
Being an increase over the first year of $7,649.31. The total of the contributions of this society for the 16 years of its existence is :
Home Missions, including Freedmen, Foreign Missions,
$28,511.97
44,261.73
Supplies, -
-
-
30,232.11
Giving a grand total of -
$103,005.11
-
-
-
-
During the last year Women's Auxiliary Societies have been reported from thirty-four churches besides thirty-five young people's societies and bands.
To the list of ministers belonging to this Presbytery, already referred to as laboring on the foreign field, we may add the following as representatives of this Wom- an's Presbyterial Society : Miss Hattie Seymour and Miss Carrie Bush, formerly of Rochester, now in Kharpoot, Turkey ; Mrs. Rev. J. N. B. Smith, of Shanghai, formerly Miss Fannie Strong, of Lima; Mrs. Rev. Charles R. Mills, of Tungchow, formerly of Nunda, and Mrs. Rev. Frank P. Gilman, of Hainan, formerly Miss Marion McNair, of Sparta First.
67
HISTORY OF ROCHESTER PRESBYTERY.
SABBATH SCHOOLS.
In Sabbath-school work the record of our churches corre- sponds well with the advance which we have noticed in other departments, some of our schools reporting as high as six, seven and eight hundred members, while all the churches, with very rare exceptions, report schools that are well organized and doing efficient work. The total number of members in the Sabbath-schools reported in 1871, was, 7,655, while that of last year was 9,722, being an increase of 2,067, or more than twenty-five per cent.
TEMPERANCE.
In temperance there has been much accomplished, with alternations of encouragement and discouragement. Early in its history our Presbytery shared in the benefits of the Gospel Temperance movement which secured multitudes of converts throughout the country by means of prayer and moral suasion, which has given place, for the last six or eight years, to a movement more compulsory and political in its character, in which the real friends of total abstinence are quite divided on the question of methods.
The Woman's Christian Temperance Union has had vig- orous branches in different parts of our field and in most of our parishes, and through these has furnished very efficient aid to our pulpits and Sabbath-schools in awakening and sustaining a healthy sentiment in favor of total abstinence.
This society traces its origin to what was known as the Woman's Temperance Crusade, which was started in the town of Hillsboro, Ohio, Dec. 23, 1873, by Mrs. Eliza Thompson, and which, after spreading the country over with astonishing rapidity. has subsequently crystallized into this more compact and efficient organization, which in its present form, has grown to be national and indeed world- wide in its extent, numbering already more than 6,000 soci-
68
HISTORY OF ROCHESTER PRESBYTERY.
eties in the United States, which aggregate 236,962 mem- bers of all denominations and races, having for its motto " For God and Home and Native Land." Reinforced by numerous recruits in Great Britain, this army has already seized upon strategic points in China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, and is pushing on to new conquests, thus proving its aggressive and missionary spirit.
YOUNG PEOPLE'S SOCIETIES OF CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR.
Within the last four or five years there have been spring- ing up among our churches what are known as " Young People's Societies of Christian Endeavor," which are becoming quite common in various parts of our country and in the different religious denominations, and already are recognized as a most efficient agency for the training of young Christians to take part in prayer meetings, and to be helpful in other kinds of church work. Perhaps half of our churches are already blessed with these societies, with the number increasing from year to year.
INCORPORATION.
The Presbytery was incorporated in accordance with an act of the Legislature of the State on the 1st of November, 1875, by nine individuals who had been elected as a board of trustees, and was subsequently reorganized on the 18th of June, 1883. This organization is continued up to the present time by the annual election of three trustees who hold their offices for three years, which board of nine has the power to dispose of the property of extinct churches, and in other ways to care for the temporal interests of the Presbytery.
In comparing the number of communicants reported by our churches in 1871, which was 7,389, with the number reported last year which was 9,531, we find a gain of 2,142,
69
HISTORY OF ROCHESTER PRESBYTERY.
or of about 30 per cent. But with this gain we are confronted with the fact that 14 churches have lost in their members, so that they report 396 less than in 1871. This is attributable in part to a diminished population in many of our rural districts. Indeed, while the city of Rochester has about doubled its population since 1870, the remainder of our territory has barely held its own. But our small churches have come up very nobly in the matter of self- support, very few of them drawing Home Missionary funds, the average being not more than $1,110.00 a year. The whole amount paid into the treasury of the Home Board from April 1, 1870, to April 1, 1889, is $84,360.39, while the amount drawn from that treasury during the same years is $21,075.00, leaving a balance in our favor of $63,285.39.
In noticing the changes which have occurred, we find that fifteen of the 50 original members remain, and that three retain the same pulpits which they then occupied, to which we may add the two foreign missionaries who still labor at Kharpoot. Of the other 35, twenty have been dismissed ; while fifteen have died, as follows :
March 16, 1871, Rev. Isaac N. Lowrie at Minneapolis, Minn., aged 28.
August 22, 1871, Rev. Robert McMath at Webster, N. Y., aged 55.
September 10, 1871, Rev. Albert G. Hall, D. D., at Rochester, N. Y., aged 65.
November 9, 1871, Rev. Hezekiah B. Pierpont at Rochester, N. Y., aged 79.
March 24, 1872, Rev. John Barnard, D. D., at Lima, N. Y., aged 82.
December 20, 1872, Rev. Justus S. Hough at Syracuse, N. Y., aged 87.
July 4, 1876, Rev. Isaac Oakes at Nunda, N. Y., aged 81.
70
HISTORY OF ROCHESTER PRESBYTERY.
June 10, 1880, Rev. Charles E. Furman, D. D., at Rochester, N. Y., aged 79.
September 16, 1880, Rev. Charles Kittridge at Clarkson, N. Y., aged 72.
November 21, 1880, Rev. Milton Buttolph at Lima, N. Y., aged 88.
September 21, 1881, Rev. Lemuel Brooks at Churchville, N. Y., aged 83.
November 6, 1882, Rev. George McCartney at Banks, Mich., aged 69.
December 17, 1884, Rev. Joseph R. Page, D. D., at Rochester, N. Y., aged 67.
March 11, 1884, Rev. Thomas Aitken at North Sparta, N. Y., aged 84.
July 2, 1887, Rev. Malcolm N. McLaren, D. D., at Auburn, N. Y., aged 89.
Of those subsequently received the following eleven have deceased :
March 28, 1873, Rev. Joshua D. Lane at Henrietta, N. Y., aged 61.
August 8, 1873, Rev. Richard Dunning at Rochester, N. Y., aged 74.
September 8, 1875, Rev. John Henry Brodt at Dansville, N. Y., aged 48.
December 4, 1875, Rev. Alexander Douglass at Lima, N. Y., aged 37.
June 26, 1882, Rev. Elijah H. Bonney at Clarkson, N.Y., aged 65.
June 28, 1882, Rev. Thomas A. Weed at Saratoga Springs, N. Y., aged 65.
November 26, 1887, Rev. Benjamin F. McNeil at Adams, Mass., aged 61.
December 9, 1887, Rev. Charles Gillette at Rochester, N. Y., aged 72.
71
HISTORY OF ROCHESTER PRESBYTERY.
December 24, 1887, Rev. Charles Stoddard Durfee at East Bloomfield, N. Y., aged 43.
January 29, 1888, Rev. David Lathrop Hunn at Buffalo, N. Y., aged 98.
March 25, 1888, Rev. Alexander S. Hoyt at Ogden, N. Y., aged 48.
The average age of these twenty-six is sixty-eight and one-half years.
That both ministers and churches have sought permanency in the pastoral relation, is attested by the fact that we are able to name twenty-one ministers who have retained their pulpits for ten years and upwards. Three of these pastorates have been exceptionally long, viz: That of Rev. Wm. Hunter at Springwater, 44 years, with a promise of more, Rev. Thomas Aitken, 45 years at Sparta, and Rev. J. B. Shaw, D. D., 47 years over the Brick Church of Rochester, where beloved and honored by all he is still retained as pastor emeritus.
Very few churches have we been obliged to mark as vacant from year to year, and even these have seldom been contented to remain long without the permanent ministry.
On our catalogue of 157 ministers different colleges are represented by their graduates, in numbers, as follows : Hamilton 20, Union 20, Amherst 12, College of New Jersey 12, Rochester University 10, Yale 6, Williams 7, University of Pennsylvania 4, Lafayette 3, Middlebury, Westminster, Western Reserve, Washington, New York University, and Genesee, 2 each, and 1 each from Dartmouth, Geneva Hall, Marietta, Carroll, Monmouth, Jefferson, Columbia, Knox, University of Glasgow, Victoria University, Oberlin and Belfast. The remaining thirty-nine are not college grad- uates.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.