USA > New York > Putnam County > Garrison > History of St. Philip's church in the Highlands, Garrison, New York, including, up to 1840, St. Peter's church on the manor of Cortlandt > Part 15
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Voted that the consideration of Mr. Constants preaching in the Church be post-poned until next Vestry meeting,
and on Easter Monday, 1807, it was again
Voted that the consideration of the Rev. Mr. Con- stants preaching in the Church be deferred.
A little later in the year the Vestry resolved
That leave cannot be granted to the Rev. Mr. Con- stant to preach in the Church of S. Peter's consistent with the Canons of the Church.
Leave, or no leave, Mr. Constant did preach in the churches. As early as 1791 his journal records his ser- vices in the Church at Philipstown:
February 15th, 1791 .- Preached at the Church in the Highlands, 2 Peter last. October 24th, 1796 .-
Chapel of St. Philip's in the Highlands 217
Rode to the Highlands, preached [at the] Church, Psalms xci, 1; staid at Mr. Nelson's.
August 25th, 1799-Preached at Highlands Isaiah liii, 10, married E. Osborne and H. Bedell.1
In 1814 there stands in the minutes of the Vestry this resolution :
Voted, that the sum of ninety-one dollars and fifty cents be paid to Mr. Constant out of the money not otherwise appropriated, one half to be paid to Mr Constant out of the first half rent year, the remainder at the years end to be paid by James Mandevill to said Mr Constant.
There is no indication of the reason for this payment. Mr. Constant had become a Congregationalist, and apparently he tried once more to secure the churches for preaching, for in 1816 we read in the minutes of the Vestry :
Whereas there has been an application to the Wardens and Vestrymen of the two United Churches of S. Peter's and S. Philips for to allow the Inde- pendent Congregation to occupy a part of the Church when not occupied by us, and the question being put weather they would consent to let the application made to us, it was unanimously agreed that we give no such consent until further consideration.
By the courtesy of surviving members of the family I am able to copy some entries from the journal of the late Samuel Gouverneur bearing on Church life in the thir- ties :
1 Journal of the Rev. Silas Constant, pp. 176, 255, 333.
218 The History of St. Philip's Church
1831. Saturday, 28th May. Bishop Onderdonk ar- rived this afternoon. Sunday, 29th May. Bishop Onderdonk offic- iated in S. Philips Church and left us Monday evening for New Burgh.
1832.
Sunday, 10th July. Mr Mitchell preached in S. Philips Church and all the family attended. Sunday, 3rd May. Bishop Onderdonk came over from West Point and preached for us. Sunday 14th October. Paid James McLennan $1 to pay Clergyman.
Friday 28th December. Rev. Mr Sunderland arrived with letter from Bishop Onderdonk. Vestry meeting held at Crofts. Sunday, Dec. 30th. Mr. Sunderland preached in S. Philips Church with a pretty good con- gregation; remained till April 1st at the rate of $300 per annum.
1833. Wednesday, 8th May. Bishop Onderdonk and Mr Judd arrived.
Thursday, 9th May, Mr. Sunderland ordained Priest.1
It may be interesting to reproduce a statement of the account of St. Philip's Chapel, dated February 8th, 1834:
To balance brought forward, $ 68.16
To cash S. Gouverneur (subscription),
72.50
R. D. Arden,
10.00
A. E. Watson,
8.00
paid Rev. J. Sunderland,
30.00
do by Fredk Philipse, 25.00
To Bill of Board for Rev. J. Sunderland, 190.00
4.50
To Horse Hire
2.00
To going to Farm to collect Rent,
To cash paid to William Nelson in suit with James Mandeville 13.94
Interest on Mr. Sunderland's Board Bill, 8.19
1 MS. Journal of Samuel Gouverneur.
Philipton Ni yo Man. of Meer Nelson
10. 1834.
these dollars
as fragment in fact tomonds my.
in St. Philipi
bitwach.
:
---
$ 3:
0
SALARY RECEIPT OF REV. JAMES SUNDERLAND
Chapel of St. Philip's in the Highlands 219
In the same year under date of September 17th there is preserved this memorandum of the subscriptions for the support of Mr. Sunderland:
Paid by Harry Garrison to Mr. Sunderland $ 0.6212
Rec'd of Harry Garrison by C. Nelson 4.3712
Rec'd of Catherine Copper
2.50
Rec'd of Capt. J. Warren
2.00
Rec'd of Daniel Haight
2.00
Rec'd of John F. Haight
1.50
Rec'd of Richard Hopper
.50
Rec'd of Richard D. Arden
10.00
Geo. Haight-paid to Mr Sunderland
3.00
Daniel Haight do
1.00
Rec'd of Richard D. Arden in full of his sub- cription
10.00
Recd of I. N. Mead
1.00
$38.4912
On this subscription paper there is this endorsement:
Captain Corn8 Nelson
I inclose you our Subscription List and wish you would hire a horse and go round this afternoon and collect what you can-except Mr Gouv Kemble, as Mr Sunderland will be here to-morrow. I request you'll not refuse me this favour which shall be paid for
S. Gouverneur Saturday Afternoon.
The spiritual condition of the chapel may be gleaned from the page of the Journal of the Diocese of New York. In 1834 the Rev. J. Sunderland reports:
Baptisms 4 Communicants 14 Sunday School: Teachers 7, Scholars 25
220 The History of St. Philip's Church
and adds, "the prospects before us are somewhat en- couraging. Our congregation is on the gradual increase, and their appears to be an increasing attention to the weekly ministrations of the Gospel."1
Two years later, his successor, the Rev. H. L. Storrs, reports, "I preach once every Sunday at Philipstown. I also preach every Sunday afternoon at Cold Spring, a village three miles from Philipstown. I have been so short a time here that it has not been in my power to ascertain as yet much in relation to the state of Religion and the Church. There is every reason however to believe that a faithful discharge of ministerial duty will advance their piety. A Sunday School has already been formed in S. Philip's Church which is very well attended, and, as has ever been the case, will be the means of dis- seminating much valuable religious instruction amongst not only the children, but also the members of the parish."2
In 1837 the parochial returns show
Baptisms 2
Confirmations 4
Communicants 15
Marriages 3
Funerals 3
Sunday School: Teachers 3. Scholars 37
and the following contributions:
Education and Missionary Society 6-62
Episcopal Fund
1-96
Diocesan Fund 2-03
Various purposes
20-28
1 New York Convention Journal, 1834, p. 95.
2 New York Convention Journal, 1836, p. 86.
Chapel of St. Philip's in the Highlands 221
In 1838 the Rev. Edward C. Bull reports, "It is about three months that I have been engaged in this place in the performance of ministerial duty. During the Winter previous to my arrival the Church, as I have been in- formed, was closed. The Sunday School was however kept in operation."1
Mr. Bull preached in St. Philip's on Sunday mornings, and in the afternoon at Cold Spring, "where there are some zealous Episcopalians, but, as yet, no regularly organized parish."
The year 1839 was the last of association with St. Peter's. The Rev. Ebenezer Williams reports two con- firmations, and thirty Sunday School scholars "with the efficient aid of six female teachers." Of the work at Cold Spring he says, "It is strongly anticipated that a neat and commodious Episcopal edifice will be erected in the course of the coming year." Writing of his work at St. Philips, he adds:
I rejoice that Providence seems to smile upon the congregation, and I cannot but flatter myself that my feeble efforts to promote the glory of God and the salvation of immortal souls will be crowned with success. At the Episcopal visitation twenty-one partook of the Holy Sacrament. I am not able at present to ascertain the exact number of Com- municants, no parish Register having been kept of the past year. The ladies of the Church, in conjunction with the charitable female members of the congre- gation, and others at Cold Spring have formed a "Ladies Benevolent Society," which is in successful operation. The great need of Sunday School books and other means to encourage children to attend,
1 New York Convention Journal, 1838, p. 91.
222 The History of St. Philip's Church
most of them living at a considerable distance from the Church, has hitherto prevented my presenting the necessary canonical collections, but shall forthwith attend to them, hoping they will be liberally contri- buted.1
In the eighteenth century public education was mainly carried on under the auspices of the Churches, and Garri- son was no exception to the rule. The first school-house stood in the chapel grounds, and was apparently erected by the Vestry. In a letter written to Bishop Hobart in 1813 it is stated that "a small decent School house was erected in 1785,"2 but nothing is recorded in the minutes of the Vestry until April 10th, 1793, when it was
Resolved, that a building shall be erected on the land belonging to the Protestant Episcopal Church in Philips Town for the purpose of a Free School for- ever, which house shall be built by Subscription.
Three years later complaint was made to the Vestry that St. Philip's Chapel "had been lately taken for the purpose of 'Scholastic Exhibitions' without consent," and a reprimand was addressed to Mr. Jacob Lent, the schoolmaster, in these terms:
Whereas complaint has been entered before the Ves- try of S. Peters and S. Philips Churches that the doors of S. Philips Church have been opened without the consent of the Rector and Vestry for the purpose of Scholastic exhibitions, which being contrary to the rules and regulations of the Protestant Episcopal Churches, (we) have agreed, that for the future,
1 New York Convention Journal, 1839, p. 86.
2 Hobart MSS.
Chapel of St. Philip's in the Highlands 223
that you do not open the said Church for such like Exercises without the consent of the Rector and Vestry.
The said Jacob Lent was a person of considerable im- portance in the parish. There is a tradition that he was a college man, and before becoming a schoolmaster was a surveyor. Born in 1771, he was married to Maria Haws on the 15th of September, 1794, by the Rev. Silas Con- stant.1 He resided in the little house attached to the school, and his salary was fifteen dollars per month. During the times that the parish was without a clergy- man, Jacob Lent read the services in both churches. On April 3rd, 1809, it was
Voted at a Vestry meeting that Jacob Lent be al- lowed twenty-five dollars for his Services past and ensuing year-Reading Services in both the Churches.
He lived to a ripe old age and was buried in the church- yard a few yards from the old schoolhouse. The inscrip- tion on his gravestone reads,
JACOB LENT Died February 16th, 1857 Aged 86 years, 1 month and five days. "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord."
For very many years the ground for the school was leased to the Trustees by the Vestry for a nominal rental of thirty dollars a year. In the course of time it was found that the playing of the children in the church- yard was undesirable, and in 1866 Mr. Frederick Philipse sold to the Trustees another site and the schoolhouse was finally removed from the Church property.
1 Journal of the Rev. Silas Constant, p. 245.
224 The History of St. Philip's Church
From a memorandum in the handwriting of Frederick Philipse it appears that there was no regular meeting of the Vestry between 1834 and 1836, it being almost im- possible to secure a quorum. In the later years of the connection between the two churches he adds, "Accord- ingly S. Philips had to be supported chiefly by voluntary contributions and the attention of a few of the Vestry from Philipstown, near the Church, without official meetings." Thus informally in 1836 Frederick Philipse was appointed Clerk and Treasurer, Cornelius Nelson, Collector, and Lazarus Hopper, Sexton.
These informal arrangements continued until 1840 when St. Philip's in the Highlands became the head of a parish.
CHAPTER VIII. THE PARISH OF ST. PHILIP'S IN THE HIGHLANDS.
1840-1911.
T OWARDS the close of the year 1839 formal steps were taken to dissolve the ecclesiastical connection between St. Peter's and St. Philip's, and make the latter an independent parish. The reasons for this have been already set forth; suffice now to say that the two churches parted with the utmost goodwill. The glebe farm was sold and the proceeds divided between the two parishes, St. Peter's receiving a cash payment of $2,500 and St. Philip's a bond and mortgage for a like amount, and the way was thus made clear for the creation of an- other parish.
The minutes of the vestry set forth the separation in these terms:
April 18th, 1840. On this day, on previous appli- cation of the Wardens and Vestry of S. Peter's Church and S. Philip's Chapel, though without a formal meeting of the Vestry, an Act was passed by the Legis- lature of the State of New York, authorizing a separa- tion of the said church and chapel of which the fol- lowing is a copy :
An Act for the Relief of S. Peter's Church in the County of Westchester and S. Philip's Chapel in the County of Putnam. Passed April 18th, 1840.
The People of the State of New York represented in Senate and Assembly do enact as follows:
226 The History of St. Philip's Church
Section 1. Whenever the legal members of the religious Corporation called the Corporation of S. Peter's Church in Peekskill, town of Cortlandt and County of Westchester and S. Philip's Chapel in the Highlands, town of Philips Town, County of Dutchess, now Putnam, respectively residing at or near to the aforesaid Peekskill and Philipstown shall respec- tively become Incorporated under the general Act for the incorporation of Religious Societies in each of the several said towns, it shall be lawful for the Cor- poration first named to divide all its real and personal property and to grant convey and assign severally into each of the new religious Corporations so created, such and so much of the real and personal property now held by the first named Corporation as by agree- ment between said several Churches shall be adjudged the just and equitable proportion of the said property for the support of the Gospel according to the doc- trines and worship of the Protestant Episcopal Church in each of the said towns on such terms and con- ditions, and the assumption of such debts and lia- bilities of the first named Corporation as may be agreed upon as just and proper.
2. Whenever such division and distribution of said property shall be made and accepted, the first named Corporation shall be dissolved, and both the new Corporations shall be jointly and severally liable to the extent of the assets they may receive from the dissolved Corporation for all debts and claims against the same.
In accordance with the aforesaid notice the members of the congregation met in the church, and the parish was incorporated under the name of "The Church Wardens and Vestrymen of St. Philip's Church in the Highlands." The certificate of incorporation was re- corded by the County Clerk on July 24th, approved by the Bishop of the Diocese, and the new parish was received into union by the Diocesan Convention.
The first necessary step was the election of Church Wardens and Vestrymen, which resulted as follows:
Parish of St. Philip's in the Highlands 227
Samuel Gouverneur Harry Garrison
Daniel Haight Frederick Philipse John Garrison Henry C. deRham Richard D. Arden Cornelius Nelson Joshua Nelson Justus Nelson, 2nd
Church Wardens.
Vestrymen.
The Rev. Ebenezer Williams, who was minister in charge before the incorporation of the Parish, was con- tinued in that capacity for one year at a salary of $375 per annum. He also ministered to the newly formed congregation at Cold Spring, but the Vestry declined to take any responsibility for payment for services rendered to St. Mary's.
In the same year Mrs. Mary Allen, "late of Tarry- town," made the Church her residuary legatee; the amount, $913.36, was invested in the "new Steam Boat Wharf at Cold Spring."
At the outset of parochial life the Clergy were engaged for one year only as ministers in charge. In 1843 this was departed from and a Rector was elected. Bitter dissension arose between the Rector and the Vestry. When these relations were terminated, the Clergy were again engaged for one year, subject to three months' notice, and a Rector was not elected until 1854. The compensation was miserably small. In 1840 it was fixed at $375, and afterwards reduced to $250, to which Cold Spring added its quota. In 1852 it was raised to $400, payable quarterly.
228 The History of St. Philip's Church
It is interesting to look back seventy years and note the parochial conditions then existing in the Highlands. Numerically and financially it was the day of small things. The congregation was meagre, the people, for the most part, poor, and the maintenance of the Church and the minister depended mainly on a few families who were resident for only a portion of the year.
Through the medium of the yearly reports made to the Diocesan Convention we can picture accurately the con- ditions. In 1840 the Rev. Ebenezer Williams reports:
Baptisms Adults 6. Children 22.
Marriages
1.
Funerals 2.
Communicants 24.
and adds:
The services of the Church are performed regularly every Sunday morning. The Rector acknowledges with gratitude the continuance of the Divine good- ness to himself and his charge during his residence here. Some have been added to the Communion and there is an increased attendance on public wor- ship, and the spiritual concerns of the parish are in a most healthy state. Aged men who have not fre- quented the Church of God from ten to fifteen years are among our present worshippers. The Holy Eu- charist has been administered four times.1
In 1841 there are reported 27 communicants, and 30 Sunday School scholars with "efficient teachers," and the following contributions:
1 New York Convention Journal, 1840.
Parish of St. Philip's in the Highlands 229
Education and Domestic Missionary Society 6.25
Protestant Episcopal Tract Society 4.05
Foreign Missionary 3.00
New York Bible and Prayer Book Society 3.11
This same report of 1841 marks growing activities:
During the last year, in addition to the regular morning service on Sundays, the Church was opened at Christmas, Thanksgiving Day, the National Fast and Good Friday. The Rector has officiated and preached at two Funerals Eastward of the parish, also at West Point; visited the sick, baptized two persons, administered the Holy Eucharist in a sick chamber, and officiated at the funeral of Lieutenant Breasford.1
The parish started upon its career burdened with a heavy debt in the shape of a note to an attorney, and unable to collect the interest upon the mortgage it held on the glebe farm. How small were the sums derived from the offerings may be surmised from copies of extant documents.
The first is the account of the Rev. Ebenezer Williams, dated July 5th, 1840:
Paid out for Church.
28th July For Pole- July 5th
Offerings. Coll for
Trimmings and
Painting 4.75
Making 12.75
12th
Sunday Col-
10th Aug
For Spade,
lection 2.18
Pick & Shovel
19th
do 1.00
2.00
26th
do 2.66
17th 66 Sent to Mr
June 14th Sacrament do 7.60
Butler for Tract
Aug 2nd
do 4.71
Society 6.05
9th Tract Society
Gave a Poor
do
4.05
Woman .76
1 New York Convention Journal, 1841.
230 The History of St. Philip's Church Paid out for Church. Offerings.
7th Sept. For one
16th
Sunday Col-
Blind 7.50
lection 4.02
Bad money
23rd
do 4.15
in Collection .25
30th
do 4.40
Gave a poor
Sept 6th
do 2.84
Widow .50 Sept 13th Sunday Col-
Gave a poor
lection 2.07
Man .50
20th
do
1.30
Two Blinds for
27th
do
1.31
Church 16.00
Oct. 4th
do
.67
Rope, Nails
& Twine
.80
$47.71
$47.11
Due to the Church .60
Going to Convention $6.00
Wood for Church
$1.76
The Rev. Robert Shaw's account for the Communion Alms stands thus:
From October 1st, 1843, to October 1st, 1844, the following collections were made on the days when the Communion was administered:
Oct. 1st
1.33
Nov. 5th
3.81
Dec. 25th
3.41
Feby 4th
2.74
March 3rd
1.98
April 7th
2.70
May 26th
2.60
Parish of St. Philip's in the Highlands 231
July 7th
2.66
Aug. 11th
2.57
$23.80
Out of the above sum there have been taken:
For the poor of the parish 10.13
For Sunday School Books 5.67
For the Diocesan Education Society 1.00
For washing Surplice and the cloths belonging to the Communion Table .37
Given in Charity to a poor person not belonging to the parish .50
$17.67
Leaving a balance of $6. 16 in my hands, Oct. 1st, 1844.
The collections were placed at the disposal of the Rector for charity and "paying expense to Convention &c.," and, in the absence of a Rector, clerical supplies were paid $5.00 per Sunday. There is no mention made of pew rents until 1865, and the main income of the Church was derived from annual subscriptions, which were gathered in by a collector appointed an- nually.
Some of these subscription lists are still extant. For 1839 the paper reads:
We, the subscribers, promise to pay to the Treasurer of St. Philip's Church, the sum set opposite to our respective names, for the support of such Episcopal Clergyman as may be called to officiate in St. Philip's Church and at Cold Spring.
N. B .- Rev. E. Williams first officiated here June 9th, 1839. It is proposed to allow him the whole amount of subscriptions, as if he had commenced on 1st May.
232 The History of St. Philip's Church
S. Gouverneur
$100.00
H. C. de Rham
50.00
R. P. Parrott 25.00
Harry Garrison
10.00
Rich. D. Arden
10.00
Gouverneur Kemble
50.00
William Kemble
50.00
John Garrison
10.00
John Uhl
10.00
Daniel Haight
5.00
Mrs. Rossiter
5.00
J. Mills Brown
3.00
L
E. Foote
15.00
Cold
Peter Henry
2.00
Spring
Thos. Prince
3.00
Foundry
Charles Hazwell
5.00
Subscrip-
Theodore Foster
2.00
tions
Joseph Robertson
2.00
Daniel Robertson
2.00
Henry Bartoll
5.00
This list is noteworthy for the reason that it marks the beginnings of financial support for the new devel- opment of the Church in the village of Cold Spring. The subscription for 1840-the first year of inde- pendent parochial life-total one hundred and eight dollars (not including Cold Spring). The new names are Cornelius Nelson, Jr., Justus Nelson and Cornelius Mandeville Nelson.
The Treasurer was required, by resolution of the Vestry (1842), to keep two books, in one of which the annual subscriptions were to be entered, and the other to contain "receipts in full for all monies whatsoever expended." It was also agreed that the Treasurer should "be compensated for extra services or disburse- ments," but no payment has ever been made under this
Parish of St. Philip's in the Highlands 233
head. In 1843 it was resolved "that the Sexton of the said Church receive $20 per year, payable quarterly, and that no other compensation be made him, either from the collections or other funds of the Church for extra services rendered during inclement seasons."
In the year 1847 a subscription list was circulated for "roofing and repairing the Church," and the subscribers were:
The Gouverneur family
40.00
Thos. B. Arden
5.00
James Arden
1.00
Mrs. DePeyster
5.00
Richard D. Arden
5.00
Mr. DePeyster
1.00
Mr. Bross
1.00
Mr. & Mrs. Moore
30.00
Harry Mead
2.00
Lias Mac Lane
3.00
Uncle Justus Nelson
1.00
William Hoffman
1.00
Israel Horton
2.00
A. Gouverneur
5.00
John Hopper
1.00
John Garrison
10.00
and Mrs. Cornelius M. Nelson contributed the board of the carpenter.
Between the years 1849-1851 services were held very irregularly owing to financial conditions, and not at all during the winter, "in view of the sparseness of the population." During this period a Mr. W. G. Hayne, "a gentleman who has recently taken up his residence in this vicinity," applied for leave to open and use the church for the purpose of holding a Sunday School.
234 The History of St. Philip's Church
The Vestry replied that if a Sunday School were held in the Church, it ought, in their judgment, to "be under the supervision of a Clergyman of the Church," and the application was declined.
In 1854, Mr. Henry W. Belcher, a member of the Vestry, offered to give the Church three acres of land on which to build a Rectory, provided $2,000 were sub- scribed within two months. A committee was appointed to build the Rectory from plans drawn by Mr. Richard Upjohn, and in 1859 they reported its completion at a cost of $3,197.30. The list of subscriptions is not with- out historical interest.
William Moore
$500.00
Frederick Philipse
366.67
S. M. W. Gouverneur
250.00
Miss Gouverneur
250.00
Chas. De Rham
100.00
Richard Upjohn
336.67
Dr. Nathaniel Moore
100.00
Henry W. Belcher
233.34
Special Fund per F. Philipse
332.74
Collected by T. B. Arden
157.00
Francis Livingston
20.00
Wm. S. Livingston
20.00
Jas. W. Dominick
100.00
Amos Sackett
25.00
Justus Sackett
25.00
William K. Belcher
50.00
The Rev. E. M. Pecke was the first occupant of the Rectory.
During this period the parochial organization was somewhat imperfect, and the appointments of the church incomplete as witnessed by the following letter
THE OLD RECTORY
Parish of St. Philip's in the Highlands 235
addressed to the Vestry by the Rev. E. M. Pecke, priest in charge:
Garrisons, N. Y., Monday in Easter Week, 1854.
To the Wardens and Vestrymen of the
Church of S. Philip's in the Highlands.
Gentlemen,
Being simply in temporary charge of this Parish1 and consequently not presiding at your meetings, I take this method of bringing before you several matters in which I desire action.
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