USA > New York > Rockland County > History of Rockland County, New York : with biographical sketches of its prominent men > Part 39
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The Rev. Wahrenberger was the first minister; the Rev. C. A. Weisel the first Lutheran minister. Since the consolidation, Rev. H. Schoppe, Rev. P. Andrus, and Rev. A. Tully, the present pastor, have officiated here.
Central Presbyterian Church .- This church was organ- ized by a committee of the Fourth Presbytery of New York, April 22d 1846.
The sermon was preached by the Rev. Erskine Mason, D.D. Epenetus Wheeler and Amos Briggs were elected and installed ruling elders. The charge to the elders was given by the Rev. Horace Eaton, and that to the church by the Rev. Edwin Holt. The church at its organization consisted of nine members.
The use of the building belonging to the Methodist Protestant Church was securcd for Sabbath services and the pulpit was supplied by different ministers till the last Sabbath in June (1846), when the Rev. Amasa S. Free- man preached, and commenced his ministry as the first and (hitherto) only pastor of this church.
He was born in Boston, Mass., October 6th 1823, was fitted for college at the "Cornelius Institute," New York, under the care of the late Rev. John J. Owen, D.D., graduated from the University of the City of New York in June, 1843, and from the Union Theological Seminary of the same city in 1846. In 1878 the degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred on him by his Alma Mater, the University of the City of New York."
Ground having been given for the purpose by the Hon. George S. Allison and the Rev. Edward Hopper, the building of the church on Clinton street was commenced in the summer of 1846, the corner stone being laid with appropriate services August 21st, on which occasion the Rev. James I. Ostrom and the Rev. Edward Hopper as- sisted.
Two months later, when the walls were up and the roof was about to be placed upon the building, a severe gale swept over the village, which threw down the entire structure, leaving it a mass of ruins. The trustees, un- daunted by this calamity, niet the next day upon the spot, and resolved to begin at once the work of rebuild- ing. Meantimc the horse shed adjoining having been erected for the convenience of the workmen, services were held under it for several weeks, until the cold weather prevented, with the carpenters' work bench for a pulpit, unplaned boards for seats, and shavings for a carpet. But God, " within no walls confined," manifested his presence, and the rude sanctuary became a " Bethel." On the seventh of February the basement of the church being completed was occupied for the first time by the pastor and his little flock.
On the third Sabbath of September of the same year, the audience room having been finished, the building was dedicated to the service of the Triune God, the Rev. J. I. Ostrom, at that time Moderator of the Fourth Presby- tery of New York, preaching the sermon from the words (Psalms LXXXIV. +,) " Blessed are they that dwell in Thine house; they will be still praising Thee."
Hitherto the pastor, although ordained, had not been installed. By the unanimous request of the people and
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Amara J. Freeman
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HISTORY OF ROCKLAND COUNTY.
by appointment of the Presbytery, that service took place in the church, Wednesday evening, April 25th 1849. The Rev. William Adams, D.D., preached the sermon, the Rev. Mason Noble gave the charge to the pastor, and the Rev. Thomas H. Skinner jr., to the people.
The congregation increased gradually, but constantly, until 1860, when the pleasant sanctuary was enlarged and beautified, and on the 29th of August was reopened, an appropriate sermon being preached by the Rev. Charles S. Porter, of Boston, formerly pastor of the Sec- ond Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York city. On the Sabbath following the pastor preached a sermon com- memorative of God's goodness, from the text (I Chroni- cles XXIX, 14) " But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? For all things come of Thee, and of Thine own have we given Thee."
On the twenty-fifth anniversary of his ministry (in 1871), the pastor preached an historical discourse (which was published), entitled "Our Silver Wedding," in which, after comparing the pastoral union to that of a happy marriage, in which the cementing bond grows stronger with increasing years, he added: "Yes, this is the year of our silver wedding! I have been married to this church longer than I have been to her whose unselfish [ twenty-seven years in Rockland county, was called to his love has doubled my joys, while it has ever borne cheer- fully so large a portion of my cares and griefs. Perhaps every congregation does not appreciate, as I believe you do, how much of a pastor's usefulness and success are due to the silent but potent influence of a judicious wife."
At the present date (1884), Dr. Freeman has nearly completed the thirty-eighth year of his ministry to the same church. He has preached in his church and lec- ture room more than four thousand sermons (besides those preached in other pulpits). He has united in mar- riage 666 persons, or 333 couples.
He has welcomed to the communion of the church, in addition to those constituting the original membership, 709, a large proportion of whom were received on con- fession of their faith in Christ.
Of these many have removed to other churches, many have " fallen asleep," while there are about 300 in full communion at the present time.
The Sabbath school, which was commenced soon after the erection of the church, in 1847, numbers about 300, the average attendance of late being upwards of 250. The pastor is superintendent, O. W. l'arsons and Henry C. Ver Valen being respectively the efficient secretary and librarian. The present ruling elders are Amos Briggs, Robert Smith, John S. Smith, Isaac H. Duryea, Henry M. Reynolds, Henry Rodermond, and Alonzo Wheeler.
The board of trustees consists of Henry M. Reynolds, chairman, Levi D. West, William D. Smith, Theodore held on the 4th day of February 1854, it being the fifth Coe, Alonzo Wheeler, and O. W. Parsons.
The thirty-seventh anniversary of the pastoral relation was commemorated on the part of the congregation by the erection of a church tower, with a bell and clock.
The entire church property, including the parsonage, is free from debt or encumbrance.
Trinity Church *(Protestant Episcopal) .- The first service of the Episcopal Church known to have been held within the limits of Haverstraw was in the year 1846, in the Methodist house of worship, conducted by the Rev. W. F. Walker. A room over a dry goods store on Main street was then leased, and for a short time occupied, and then the edifice of the present German Lutheran Society, at that time owned by the Protestant Methodists, was secured for a period of three years. A vestry was organ- ized, Messrs. J. R. Bleeker and Isaac Maqueston being the wardens. In 1847 the church was received into un- ion with the Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the diocese of New York. Although not in- corporated, Messrs. J. R. Bleecker, William McArdle, and William Sandford were the first delegates to the Di- ucesan Convention from Haverstraw. The services of the church, however, were not continued for any long time, nor have any certified records of that period been handed down. The services were discontinued for a long time, except by the occasional visits of the Rev. S. G Hitchcock, who, in 1850, assumed the charge of the church in Piermont, and who, after a faithful ministry of eternal reward. This good man's name ought not to be forgotten in Trinity parish. Mr. Hitchcock was the first to celebrate the services of the church in Nyack, Spring Valley, and Suffern, besides resuscitating the almost ex- tinct parish in Piermont. He also officiated occasion- ally in Haverstraw, Greenwood Iron Works, N. Y., and in Norwood, N. J., where, the Sunday after his death, a beautiful church was consecrated. He performed no half-hearted service. All the powers of his soul and mind were consecrated to the great work which God had laid upon him. He was an earnest Christian preacher, a faithful pastor, a godly man.
In 1854, when all hope of establishing the Episcopal Church in Haverstraw upon a firm basis had been given up and when some formerly interested in the Church had joined themselves to other Christian bodies, the Rev. J. B. Gibson came to Haverstraw. It was a discouraging out- look. "There is no use to try," some one said to him, " the attempt has been made and failed. If Bishop Wain- wright himself were to come here he would not make ten converts in as many years."
The young clergyman, nothing daunted, went to work. He obtained the use of an old building then known as the " yellow school house," standing at the foot of the street opposite the West Shore Railroad depot, which has since been replaced by the present more substantial and commodious structure, and there the first service of his ministry in Haverstraw was held. There were four church people in that congregation. This service was Sunday after Epiphany. The use of the building having been refused for any long time, on the ground that the "school house could not be devoted to sectarian pur-
*Contributed by the Rector, Rev. A. T. Ashton, A. M.
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HAVERSTRAW-TRINITY CHURCH.
poses," the upper room in the building nearly opposite the present Trinity Church was offered the rector by the generous hearted Mr. George Benson, now deceased, and | of labor, Burlington College. there the services were continued and there was held the first service of the Sunday school. On December 10th 1856, this church was incorporated under the name of the " Rector, Church Wardens, and Vestrymen of Trinity Church, in the Town of Haverstraw, in the County of Rockland."
The following gentlemen constituted the first vestry of the parish after its incorporation: Wardens, Joseph R. Bleecker and John C. Rieck. Vestrymen, Daniel Mc- Cloud, Malcolm Troop, David Williams, Alvin Ball, S. S. Sloat, C. P. Hoffman, John M. Polhamus, and J. V. Stu- ben.
The first confirmation in Haverstraw was held on the IIth Sunday after Trinity, August 27th 1854, in the First Presbyterian Church, by the provisional bishop of the diocese, the Rt. Rev. J. M. Wainwright, D. D. This was his last Episcopal service. In the Providence of Al- mighty God this struggling church was privileged to re- ceive his dying benediction.
But one member of that first confirmation class is now (1884) living in Haverstraw, and that is Mrs. Mary A. Ackerson, the mother of our esteemed townsman, Mr. George W. Burr. Mrs. Ackerson's descendants, to the fourth generation, born in Haverstraw, have all been re. ceived into the ark of Christ's church by holy baptism. The children and grandchildren of two other members of the class (Mr. and Mrs. John C. Rieck) are still mem- bers of the parish, and some of them actively engaged in church work.
The names of those confirmed by Bishop Wainwright are: David Williams, Elijah and Alice Fenton, Mrs. M. A. Ackerson, Mrs. Weaver, Ann E. and Maria L. Hous- mann. Jesse Ruckel, Mary C. Bleecker, John C. and Anna Rieck, Maria McEnroe, and Clarissa Jones.
The corner stone of the church was laid in 1855, by the Rev. Dr. William Creighton, assisted by the rector of the parish and the Revs. Hitchcock, Halsey, and Van Kleeck, and on the 17th of June 1856, the church was consecrated to the worship and service of Almighty God, by the Rt. Rev. Horatio Potter, D. D., LL. D. At the same time four persons were confirmed. This building is the oldest church edifice belonging to the Episcopal church in Rockland county. From the time of Mr. Gib- son's coming to Haverstraw services have been held in two places, in what is now called West Haverstraw, where Trinity Church is situated, and in the village where now stands Saint Luke's Church, which formerly belonged to the Baptist society. In 1858 the rector reported that, be- sides his work in Haverstraw, a service was held on the second Sunday of the month, at Greenwood Furnace, in Orange county, some fourteen miles distant. The Rev. Mr. Whiting was then assisting Mr. Gibson.
by his self-denying labors, and his gentle, Christian char- acter, Mr. Gibson was called away to the important field
Then came that terrible calamity to the nation, the Civil war, when towns and parishes were well nigh de- populated and thousands of brave men gave up their lives on the field of battle for the cause of truth and lib- erty. The parish passed through a most trying period of depression.
The Rev. G. H. Hepburn assumed charge in February 1861, and remained less than one year. The services were not regularly observed, and dark was the outlook for the parish.
In April 1862, the Rev. E. Gay jr., became rector. He labored faithfully for seven years, and to him, under God, is due in great measure the continuance of the par- ish and the preservation of church life during those ter- rible years of war. Out of his missionary efforts has grown the present incorporated parish of St. John's Church, New City. To Mr. Gay's efforts also is due the House of the Good Shepherd, which originated while he was rector here " in the necessity of providing for several destitute orphan children." The object in establishing this worthy charity was to furnish a Christian home for destitute children and a school house where they could be thoroughly taught in the elementary branches of edu- cation, and should talents be developed which might be useful in Christ's church, to encourage and assist the children to obtain a more complete education. The House was opened in the village of Haverstraw on the evening of Shrove Tuesday, February 13th 1866. On Easter Monday it was removed to Benson's Corner, and there remained until the valuable property which it now holds at Tomkins Cove was secured.
The Rev. E. A. Nichols for a time assisted Mr. Gay, and the Rev. Thomas Marsden, who subsequently took charge of St. John's Church, New City, officiated in the parish during the years of 1866 and 1867. On the ist of August, 1869, Mr. Gay resigned, and in the autumn of that year, was succeeded by the Rev. Walter Delafield, D.D., who remained in charge for about three years. Mr. Delafield was a man abounding in good works, and the statistics of the parish are an evidence of his faithful service. During his rectorship, the Sunday school room, which was built in 1859, was enlarged to its present pro- portions. The church now known as St. Luke's, in the village of Haverstraw, which has all along, together with Trinity parish, been under the same management, its temporal interests being cared for by the vestry of this parish (two or more gentlemen from that district having been annually elected members of the board), was set apart as a distinct corporation.
In 1873, Mr. Delafield resigned. For six months the church was served by the Rev. D. G. Gunn, a deacon and a student in the General Theological Seminary.
After seven years of earnest labor in this place, after In July, 1874, the Rev. C. B. Coffin, of blessed mem. ory, was called to the rectorship. He continued in charge the extent of his work? The church records show but the church had been firmly established, the services reg- ularly maintained, and an excellent parish school founded, but ten months, but what man shall attempt to measure after he had endeared himself to the whole community
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Residence of JAMES GARNER WEST, ROCKLAND COUNTY, N. Y.
174
HISTORY OF ROCKLAND COUNTY.
few official acts, yet his memory will survive in Haver. straw in the grateful hearts of the younger members of Trinity Church.
The Rev. G. W. West succeeded Mr. Coffin, coming to lage, legally qualified, met at the church and incorporat- Haverstraw in September, 1875, and resigned his charge in September, 1878. Many were baptized and presented for confirmation by Mr. West. It was during his pasto- rate that a plot of land, comprising about two-thirds of an acre, was secured, and on it was begun the construc- tion of a rectory. In 1877, $2,250 were expended on the house, and since the residence of the present rector the building has been completed (at a cost of about $1,000) through the munificence of two ladies of the parish, the late Mrs. Amelia Garner West, and Mrs. Cath- arine Wattles.
It remains only to add that the writer of this article assumed the charge of the church on the 20th Sunday after Trinity, November 3d 1878.
The following are the statistics for the whole period of the church's existence from February 4th 1854 to Sep- tember 26th 1883: baptisms, 1,014; confirmations, 306; marriages, 102; burials, 294. Offerings for all purposes, $36,683.95, inaking an average each year of about $1,- 223.
The following will give an idea of the present status of the church (1884): families, 97; individuals, 451; bap- tisms for the past year, 22; marriages, 6; burials, 5; communicants, 115. Holy Communion is celebrated twice every month, weekly in Advent and Lent, and on Saints' days. Officers and teachers of Sunday school, 15; scholars, about 135. Total amount of offerings last year, $1,941.97.
As a result of the work begun here by Dr. Gibson, there are now in the county the following churches and charities: St. John's Church, New City; the House of Prayer, Caldwell's; Grace Church, Stony Point; the House of the Good Shepherd, Tomkins Cove; and St. John's Church, St. John.
St. Luke's Church * ( Protestant Episcopal) .- The early history of St. Luke's Church, Haverstraw, is but a repe- tition of the attempts already described in the article on Trinity Church to found the Episcopal Church in this village.
Until the coming of the Rev. Walter Delafield, D. D., autumn of 1869, to assume the rectorship of Trinity Church, the two congregations at Benson's Corner and Warren village had been under the direction of one and the same clergyman and vestry. But in April 1870, a committee of two gentlemen from Trinity Church, Messrs. F. A. Chapman and C. E. Cosgrove, were appointed to consider the advisability of appointing ten laymen from Warren village to superintend the affairs of the Episco- pal church in that community, " subject to the direction of this vestry." This was the first move which subse- quently resulted in the incorporation of the village church as a distinct religious society. The committee of ten was appointed, certain powers were delegated to them by the vestry of Trinity Church, and on the 19th of the fol-
lowing September, A. D., 1871, "According to notice pre- viously posted read after morning service for two Sun- days, the male members of the church in Warren Vil- ed themselves as a religious society, according to law, by the name of St. Luke's Church in the Village of War- ren and Town of Haverstraw, County of Rockland and State of New York, and elected the following gentlemen for the remainder of the Church year:" H. D. Batchelder. senior warden; John R. Mckenzie, junior warden; John Babcock, Hiram Babcock, John Oldfield, C. J. Ball, Moses Millington, Harvey De Pew, Jacob Dutcher, and Charles Brockway, vestrymen.
At the same time and place the Rev. Walter Delafield was elected rector. He served the parish until his res- ignation in 1873.
Services were then kept up by lay readers, with occa- sional clerical assistance, until the autumn of 1874, when the Rev. E. Gay jr. was called to the rectorship. He served for three years, till September 1877. The ser- vices were then discontinued for more than a year.
On the festival of Easter, April 13th 1879, the Rev. A. T. Ashton, who, in November 1878, had begun his du- ties as rector of Trinity Church, Garnerville, held his first service in St. Luke's Church, Haverstraw, and con- tinued in charge till March 1881, when the Rev. John Graham took up the work. He resigned his cure in De- cember 1882, and the Rev. Mr. Ashton was again re- quested and appointed by the bishop of the diocese to look after the spiritual interests of the church.
Since the incorporation of St. Luke's there have been in the parish 88 baptisms and 25 confirmed, 12 mar- riages, and 31 funerals. The amount of offerings can- not at present be ascertained. There are now about ten communicants in the parish, and a Sunday-school num- bering about 80 teachers and scholars.
Services are held on Sunday afternoons, the rector of Trinity church officiating. He is ably assisted in the charge of the school by Mr. J. R. Mckenzie, the pres- ent senior warden.
The church is a parish but in name. It is now and always has been a mission, depending almost entirely, as has been described above, upon the ministrations of the successive clergymen in charge of Trinity Church.
It ought perhaps to be said that the church building was purchased from the Baptist society through the ef- forts of the Rev. J. B. Gibson and his friends, and is se- cured forever to the use and worship of the Protestant Episcopal Church. This feeble mission is indebted to Trinity Church, New York, for its church home, the money for the purchase of the building having been fur- nished by that corporation and secured by bond and mortgage.
CEMETERIES IN HAVERSTRAW.
It was the invariable custom of the early Dutch settlers for each family to have a private burying ground on its own land, and it was rare for any tombstone bearing an inscription to be erected. A rough stone placed at the
*By the minister in charge, the Rev. A. T. Ashton, A.M.
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HAVERSTRAW -- CEMETERIES.
head, and another at the foot of the grave marked the emphasis to those who desecrate the resting places of the dead.
resting places of the departed, and an uncared for, and neglected burying place is a spectacle that may be seen on almost every old homestead of the families whose names are found in early annals.
The Waldron burying ground, by the side of the rail- road, half way between the Haverstraw station and Stony Point, contains the monuments of many members of the representative families of this vicinity. and the following dates are given from among the older inscriptions: Robert Parkinson, died July 10th 1854, aged 56. John Winant died December 15th 1804, aged 64. Jacob Wei- ant died November 22d 1852, aged 56. Phebe, daughter of Halstead Coe. Esq., January 4th 1836, aged 23. Wal- ter S. Brewster, March 22d 1834, aged 35. Eliza, wife of Walter S. Brewster, August 20th 1826, aged 20. Peter Gross, April 28th 1811, aged 76. Jacob Waldron, born November 16th 1737, died February 17th, 1805. Cath- arine, wife of Jacob Waldron, died July 6th 1844, aged 103 years and 9 months. Margaret Waldron, born De- cember 4th 1782, died January 9th 1872. Hannah Wal- dron, wife of Eli Blancher, died September 13th 1868 aged 84. Resolvert Waldron died June 17th 1856, aged 80. Eli Blancher, April 18th 1869, aged 89. Abraham Waldron, May 19th 1815, aged 45. Maria, wife of Abra- ham Waldron, August 28th 1864, aged 93. Tobias Wal- dron, April 8th 1837, aged 41. Martha, wife of Samuel Goetchius, February 21st 1825, aged 60. John J. De La Montagne, March 7th 1806, aged 47. Phebe, wife of Joseph De La Montagne, January 21st 1800, aged 77. Charlotte, wife of Christopher Ming, August 10th 1792, aged 30. Samuel Brewster, November 29th 1821, aged 84. Freelove Brewster, died December 4th 1815, aged 61. William H. Brewster, died October 6th 1819, age 26. Nicholas Call jr., died November 28th 1829, ae. 54. Tobias De Ronde, died February 25th 1820, ae. 74. Sarah, wife Tobias De Ronde, died August 26th 1831, ae. 81. John Bulson died February 17th 1828, ae. 78. Samuel S. Brewster, died February 19th 1848, ae. 43. Noah Mott, died May 17th 1826, ae. 73. Edward Lacelles, died April 19th 1839, ae. 63. John Lacelles, died March 27th 1850, ae. 52. Aaron De Camp, died July 31st 1839, ae. 69. Robert James, died November 21st 1846, ae. 63.
Mount Repose Cemetery was originally purchased for the Methodist Church by a company consisting of the following persons: John S Gurnee, John D. Gardiner, John R. Mckenzie, Isaiah Milburn, Lewis R. Mackey, Walter S. Johnson, Silas D. Gardiner, Leonard Gurnee, and Asbury De Noyelles.
The land, thirteen acres, was purchased of Asbury De Noyelles for $1,200. It was laid out into lots, and Isaiah Milburn and John S. Gurnee were authorized to give deeds for them. Owing to some disagreement, a partition suit was begun soon afterward. The tract was sold at auction, by order of court, and was bid in by Clarence Conger, for $5,200. He gave Garret G. Allison power of attorney to sell lots, and that is the present condition of the title. The cemetery was dedicated Thursday, July 7th 1853. The location is at the foot of the moun - tain, and probably it would be difficult to find a better site. Many of the monuments are of the most elegant design and the grounds are neatly kept. The oldest tombstone is one that was removed here from the old Allison family burying ground by.the river, and bears the following: "In memory of Robert Hutchings, who was born the 8th day of September, 1697, and departed this life the 12th day of February, 1765, aged 67 years and 5 months and 4 days."
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