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 17
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I speak for the family as mother and grandmother. I cheerfully approve all this subject to the approval of the Vestry of St. Philip's Church.
Yours very sincerely, Margaret E. Sloan.
At a meeting of the Vestry, held in New York, Decem- ber 30th, 1910, the following resolutions were passed:
1
Botry of St. Philip's Church in the Highlander .
-
THE SAMUEL SLOAN MEMORIAL RECTORY
1911
(From Architect's Drawing.)
Parish of St. Philip's in the Highlands 251
The Rector having reported the receipt of a letter under the date of Dec. 22, 1910, from Mrs. Sloan, expressing the desire on the part of herself and family to build a rectory on a new site in the church grounds as a memorial to her late husband, the Hon. Samuel Sloan, be it resolved :
1st, that the Vestry, in meeting assembled, expresses its heartfelt thanks to Mrs. Sloan and family for her most generous offer, and gratefully accepts the gift as a memorial to one who, in his long association as Vestryman and Warden, gained the affection and es- teem of all the members of the parish.
2nd, that a committee of the Vestry be appointed to confer with Mrs. Sloan's representatives as to the carrying out of the proposal.
(Signed) E. Clowes Chorley, rector. Wm. M. Benjamin, Clerk.
Messrs. Charles de Rham, Stuyvesant Fish, Wm. M. Benjamin and the Rector were appointed on the com- mittee.
The site selected was in front of the old building and at 8.30 a.m., on Wednesday, March 29th, 1911, the corner stone was laid by the Rector in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. By an undesigned but happy coincidence the completed building was handed over on the anniversary of Mr. Sloan's death, Sep- tember 22nd.
On the porch of the house a bronze tablet has been fixed having this inscription:
In Memory of SAMUEL SLOAN Dec. xxv, MDCCCXVII-Sept. xxii, MCMVII Erected By His Family A.D. MCMXI
252 The History of St. Philip's Church
In the Rector's study there has been placed a chair and a desk made out of the beams of the old Glebe farm house, and on the terrace there stands a sun dial the stone of which comes from the Glebe and from the quarry which supplied the stone for the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York. It is thus inscribed:
GLEBE.
1770.
RECTORY. 1911.
John Doty
E. C. Chorley
Rector.
Rector.
MEMORIALS AND BENEFACTIONS.
The interior of the church is enriched by many beauti- ful memorials perpetuating the memory of those who loved and served the parish. The following is a list of such memorials and benefactions so far as they can now be ascertained :
1770. One acre of land for church and grounds given by Colonel Beverly Robinson, to which was added about 1790 another acre of land by William Denning.
1772. Farm of two hundred acres to St. Peter's and St. Philip's; the gift of Colonel Beverly Robinson.
1840. Legacy of the late Mrs. Mary Allen-$913.36.
1853. Three acres of land for rectory purposes by Henry W. Belcher.
1862. The font by Mrs. William Moore. The sanctuary furniture presented by the Rev. Charles Frederick Hoffman and friends.
Parish of St. Philip's in the Highlands 253
1868. The church bell by Mrs. Henry W. Belcher.
1873. Additional land for the churchyard by Fred- erick Philipse.
1877. The altar cross -"In Memoriam: Helen Arden."
1883. Legacy of $500 by Mrs. Richard Upjohn. The income to be paid to the Rector for mis- sionary work within the parish.
1883. Boundary wall of the churchyard by the Hon. Hamilton Fish, LL.D.
Three sets of altar and pulpit hangings by the Rev. Walter Thompson, S. T. D.
1892. Candelabra-"To the Glory of God and in memory of Emma Louise Garrison. Entered into Eternal Life, June 29th, 1891." Lectern Bible-In Memoriam Eliza King Belcher.
1894. The white altar and pulpit hangings, altar rail and service books. "To the Glory of God and in dear memory of Hamilton and Julia Kean Fish by their children."
1895. The organ and endowment of $5,000. "Erect- ed to the Glory of God, and in filial devotion to the memory of Harriet Toucey and Eme- line Butler-Atwater." The gift of John M. and Mary Butler Toucey.
1898. Silver alms bason. "In Memory of Edward Pierrepont. Born 1859. Died 1885. Given by his mother."
1898. Silver alms plates. "In Memory of Julia Antoinette de Rham. Born 1820. Died 1894, and Henry Casimir de Rham. Born 1785. Died 1878."
254 The History of St. Philip's Church
1901. The parish house. "In Loving Memory of John M. Toucey this Parish House is given by his wife and son to S. Philip's Church in the Highlands. 1901."
1907. Additional land for the churchyard given by the Misses Philipse.
1909. Silver Communion service. "In Memory of Laura Frederica de Rham, 1899 and Laura de Rham, 1906." The gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles de Rham.
1910. White stone altar. "To the Glory of God and Sacred to the memory of Virginia Read Sturges Osborn, 1830-1902." The gift of Mrs. H. Fairfield Osborn.
1910. Six Thousand dollars as an endowment for St. James' Chapel to be known as "The Charles de Rham Memorial Fund." The gift of Charles and Henry Casimir de Rham.
1910. Peal of bells given by William Massena, Hamilton Fish and Julian Arnold Benjamin. "In Loving Memory of their mother, Julia Kean Benjamin."
1911. Rectory-Memorial of the Hon. Samuel Sloan, the gift of his widow and children.
MONUMENTAL BRASSES.
In Memory of Edwards Pierrepont, LL.D., D.C.L. Oxon., Attorney General of the United States. Minister to the Court of S. James. A Learned Jurist. A Patriotic Citizen. A Humble Follower of Christ. His Life was Noble. His Memory is Revered. 1813-1892.
VIRGINIA STURGES OSBORN MEMORIAL ALTAR
1910
Parish of St. Philip's in the Highlands 255
In Memory of Hamilton Fish, LL.D. Governor: U. S. Senator: U. S. Secretary of State. A Revered Citizen: An Eminent Statesman. A Devout Christian. He adorned every position to which he was called. For Thirty Years Warden and Vestryman of This Parish. Born in New York. Died at Garrison.
To the Glory of God And in Loving Memory of
Julia
Kean Fish
1816
1887.
The Path of the Just Is as The Shining Light Which Shineth More and More Unto The Perfect Day. This Tablet is Erected by Parishioners of S. Philip's Church in the Highlands to Commemorate the Life of One Who Walked with God.
MEMORIAL WINDOWS.
The three memorial windows in the chancel are the gift of the Misses Philipse
To the Memory of The Gouverneur and Philipse Families Adolphus Nathaniel Gouverneur Samuel M. Warburton Gouverneur Frederick Philipse Margaret Philipse Moore Mary Marston Gouverneur.
In the northern transept the two-light window is
To the Memory of L. A. De Peyster.
256 The History of St. Philip's Church and the window by the organ is
To the Memory of Hamilton Fish Rogers Born March 16th, 1879. Died April 21st, 1885. and Violet Mabel Rogers Born March 7th 1883. Died January 31st, 1885.
In the west end of the church the window enshrines the memory of
Edwin and Emma, Infant children of R. and E. Upjohn.
In the nave
Mary Perkins Thompson Born March 16th, 1879, Died April 21st, 1885.
Edith Northcote, December 18th, 1887.
Elizabeth Stuyvesant d'Hauteville, Born March 11th, 1839, Died March 1st, 1864.
Virginia Sturges Osborn, Aged 20. May 1875 and Frederick Sturges Osborn Aged 16. July 1875.
THE TOUCEY MEMORIAL PARISH HOUSE
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CHAPTER IX. ST. PHILIP'S IN THE HIGHLANDS. THE RECTORS.
1840-1911.
D URING the later years of the united Parish it became impossible to secure adequate attend- ance at the meetings of the Vestry, and Mr. Frederick Philipse notes that "S. Philip's Church was supported chiefly by the voluntary contributions and attention of a few of the Vestry from Philipstown, near the Church, without official meetings."
From 1836 till 1840 a separate clergyman ministered at St. Philip's, the first being the Rev. F. Peake, who came in June, 1836. Mr. Peake formed a congregation at Cold Spring, but after two months' service he was recalled by the Bishop of Missouri. His remuneration, paid by Mr. Samuel Gouverneur, was one hundred dol- lars.
Rev. Henry Lemuel Storrs, M. A., was engaged on October 1st, 1836, in the same informal manner, until April 1st, 1837, at a stipend of $500 per annum, and was re-engaged on the latter date. During his ministry St. Philip's was consecrated by Bishop Onderdonk, and Mr. Storrs was ordained Priest at the same service.
Mr. Storrs was the eldest son of the Hon. Henry Randolph Storrs, a distinguished member of the New York Bar and of the Legislature. He was born on July
258 The History of St. Philip's Church
1st, 1811, at Whites Town, in the County of Oneida, and attended Hamilton and Union Colleges, graduating from the latter. During a residence in Utica, he came under the influence of the Rev. Dr. Henry Anthon, and under his direction, became a communicant of the Church, and a candidate for the ministry. On the completion of his course at the General Theological Seminary, he was ad- mitted to Holy Orders, and his first charge was St. Philip's. Here he married Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Leonard Kip of New York; she was confirmed in St. Philip's Church in 1837.
After serving Garrison for about two years he officiated for a little while at Yonkers, and then accepted the rec- torship of St. Stephen's, New Hartford. Three years later he became Rector of St. John's Church, Yonkers, and there remained for eleven years.
The Protestant Churchman said of Mr. Storrs' work at St. John's, "the strength of the parish was doubled; the communicants had largely increased in number; jarring opinions and feelings were harmonized through the discreet and faithful assiduity of the rector; in his vineyard, he realized all that a servant of God could have a right to seek for himself, of pastoral peace and pleasantness."
He died on Sunday, May 16th, 1852, and is buried in the parochial cemetery at Yonkers. A tablet to his memory is on the walls of St. John's Church.
The Rev. Edward C. Bull of Massachusetts was called "for S. Philips and S. Mary's, Cold Spring" on June 1st, 1838, and remained for one year. In 1841 he officiated at Brookfield, Connecticut, and from 1847 to 1859 he was Rector of Christ Church, Rye. During
RECTOR, 1837
Rectors of St. Philip's in the Highlands 259 his rectorship of the latter parish the old wooden church built in 1788 was replaced by a stone building which was consecrated on March 15th, 1855, by Bishop Wainwright.
ECdû. C. Pmc
Mr. Bull was succeeded by the Rev. Ebenezer Williams, who was ordained Priest in St. Philip's Church by Bishop Onderdonk, and had served as missionary at Hoosick Falls, and as chaplain at Sing Sing Prison before coming into the Highlands. When the parish was incorporated he was, on July 21st, 1840, called as "officiating clergy- man" for one year at a salary of $375 per annum, the Vestry expressly stipulating that it would not be respon- sible for any further sum on account of his services at Cold Spring.
In 1843 Mr. Williams was elected first Rector of the Parish in accordance with the following Minute:
Resolved-That we Harry Garrison, Senior War- den, John Garrison, Richd D. Arden, Peter Bross, George Haight, Thos. B. Arden, Vestrymen, do appoint the Rev. Ebenezer Williams to the Rectorship of the Parish of S. Philips.
He was "duly introduced into the Church of S. Philips by Harry Garrison Esq. Senior Warden, and the key of the said Church placed in his possession." Compensa- tion was fixed at $375 per annum, payable quarterly, "until the officers of the Church may order otherwise." It was intimated that when a parsonage was provided, "a corresponding deduction would be made from the
260 The History of St. Philip's Church
salary of the Minister of the parish." Mr. Williams lived at Brook Cottage and to eke out the scanty stipend his wife kept a select school. This rectorship was marked by the only serious dissension that has ever arisen in the history of the parish. Bishop Onderdonk acted as peace- maker, and on June 30th, 1843, Mr. Williams resigned.
Whilst rector of St. Philip's Mr. Williams suffered the loss of his wife and she is buried in the churchyard. After leaving Garrison he volunteered for missionary ser- vice in the Far West. At that time the West and the greater part of the South were divided into two immense missionary districts, and Bishop Jackson Kemper had charge of the former. His territory included the states of Wisconsin, Indiana and Missouri, and also the lands out of which were subsequently erected Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas.1 Mr. Williams was appointed to Racine, Wisconsin. There was no church building, and the people were too poor to build one. The rector was sent to England to gather funds. After building the church he was transferred to Mineral Point, where he erected another church. His last parish was Montford, where he labored until 1870, when he retired from the active ministry. The closing years of his life were spent in the home of his son at Ogden, Iowa, where he died on December 10th, 1878, in the seventy-seventh year of his age. He was buried in the Glenwood Cemetery.
In August of 1843 "the Rev. Robert Shaw, having offi- ciated in the Church on Sunday, the 13th instant, at the invitation of the Wardens and Vestry, it was resolved that the Clerk of the Vestry tender a call to Mr. Shaw
1 History of the Diocese of Minnesota by the Rev. Dr. Tanner, p. 1.
RECTOR, 1839-1843
Rectors of St. Philip's in the Highlands 261
to the said Church until the first of May next with a sal- ary at the rate of $300 per annum."1 Mr. Shaw "con- cluded to accept" the call. For several years he had been a Presbyterian minister, and in 1832 was ordained Priest by Bishop Onderdonk in St. Mark's Church, Hunt's Hollow. In 1846, "in view of the low state of the funds of this Church" the Vestry regretted their inability "to increase the salary beyond the amount of $250 dollars per annum," and at the same time they requested "that he report to them the present condition of the Sunday School."
Robertethan
The arrangement by which the Minister divided his time between Garrison and Cold Spring was conducive to a rivalry, which was accentuated in 1846 by Mr. Shaw's removal of his residence to the latter place. The Vestry thereupon requested him "to furnish his weekly selection of Psalms and Hymns, for each succeeding Sunday's service, to the Clerk of this Church-if possible on the previous Sunday-or else, by the Thursday even- ing preceding through the Cold Spring Post Office." In 1847 a curt resolution that "the attention of the Rev. Robert Shaw be called to his parochial duties" was only lost by a small majority, but the Standing Committee was empowered "to confer with Mr. Shaw as they may
1 The other part of the stipend was provided by St. Mary's, Cold Spring.
262 The History of St. Philip's Church
think proper in regard to the general interests of the Church in the parish." Mr. Shaw's reply was as follows:
Dear Sir,
In reply to the resolution of the Vestry of St. Philips in the Highlands-which you delivered to me on the 26th inst, I have only to say, that I am not aware of any neglect of the parochial duties of the parish. You, as well as other members of the Vestry, are aware, I presume, that a clergyman has various duties to perform, and that he may justly be supposed to know how these are to be proportioned. When your Vestry can offer such remuneration as will justify an increased expenditure on my part in the discharge of the duties of the parish I am ready to do it.
My endeavours to secure the attendance of children at Sunday School have been ineffectual, therefore, that the Vestry may know how such instruction is valued, and that I am ready to perform my duty that appertains to my office, I will catechise the children of the parish openly in the Church, according to the directions of the same.
Respectfully yours, RT. SHAW.
F. Philips Esq, April 29th, 1848.
In 1850 the parish found itself in serious financial diffi- culties. The purchaser of the glebe farm refused to pay the interest on the mortgage, and considerable arrears of salary were due Mr. Shaw. The Vestry therefore deemed it "to be their painful duty to close the church until this present difficulty be adjusted." This terminated Mr. Shaw's association with St. Phil- ip's, but he continued for several years to minister at Cold Spring, and eventually removed to Canada, where he died.
Rectors of St. Philip's in the Highlands 263
The church was closed for two years, and in 1852 the Rev. David E. Barr was called as "officiating minister at $400 per annum," terminable by three months' notice on either side. The name of David Eglington Barr first appears in the records of the Diocese of New York in the year 1851, when he became Rector of Grace Church, South Oyster Bay (now Massapequa), Long Island, from which parish he came to the Highlands. His brief ministry at St. Philip's was not free from difficulties, and on August 16th, 1853, he entered upon his duties as missionary at Butternuts, Otsego County.
David 4. Barn.
When Mr. Barr left the parish the Vestry appealed to Bishop Wainwright to provide a clergyman, and in 1854 the Rev. Edward M. Pecke was "called to the charge of the Church and Parish as its officiating min- ister for the period of six months," and in June of that year was formally chosen Rector. His yearly salary was fixed at $500. Mr. Peck was the first occupant of the rectory.
On August 3rd, 1857, the following letter was addressed to the Wardens and Vestry:
Gentlemen,
The salary paid to the Rector by this parish being utterly inadequate to the support of myself and fam- ily, I am compelled to resign the charge of it, to enter upon another field of labor where I have the promise of support.
264 The History of St. Philip's Church
You will therefore please accept my resignation as Rector to take effect one month from the date of this communication.
Very truly yours, E. M. PECKE.
Edward Mills Pecke, M.A., was received as a candidate for Holy Orders in the Diocese of New York on July 11th, 1850. He graduated from the General Theological Seminary three years later, and after his ordination acted as secretary to the Provisional Bishop of New York.1 St. Philip's was his first pastoral charge. In September, 1857, he removed to the Diocese of New Jersey, where he became assistant minister of St. Paul's and missionary at St. Mark's, Newark. He also served as principal of the parochial school. Mr. Pecke was a gifted musician and an acknowledged authority on ritual. Long before the days when choral services were commenced in the American Church he published a volume entitled, The Psalter Noted, by the Rev. Thomas Helmore, M. A., carefully compared and made to agree with the Psalter of the Standard Prayer Book of the Church in the United States of America, by the Rev. Edward M. Pecke, M. A.2 He labored in many fields. In 1861 he was transferred to the diocese of Massachusetts and became rector of St. Stephen's, Pittsfield. Some of his subsequent parishes were St. Mark's, Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania (1861); Christ Church, Riverdale, New York (1866); St. Peter's, Cheshire, Connecticut (1868); and St. Luke's, Richfield Springs (1873). During his
1 Bishop Wainwright.
2 Recent Recollections of the Anglo-American Church in the United States by an English Layman. Vol. I, p. 130 ff.
Mr. Picke
RECTOR, 1854-1857
Rectors of St. Philip's in the Highlands 265
ministry in the diocese of Albany he served as Arch- deacon of the Susquehanna. The closing years of his life were spent as an inmate of the "Priory Farm," Verbank, Dutchess County, where he died on the 15th of February, 1898, in the seventieth year of his age.
In September, 1857, a call was accepted by the Rev. Joel Clap, D. D., who was affectionately known in the parish as "Daddy Clap." He was instituted into the rectorship on July 14th, 1858, by Bishop Horatio Potter. Dr. Clap resigned on January 2nd, 1860, to become Chap- lain of the Church Charity Foundation, Brooklyn.
Dr. Clap was a very remarkable man. He was a great missionary, and his name is writ large on the annals of the Church in Vermont. Although he did not come to Garrison until 1857 his birth carries us back to the time when Vermont was covered with virgin forests. In 1789 the town of Montgomery, Vermont, received its charter, and thither in 1793 came from Massachusetts Captain Joshua Clap, a soldier of the Revolution. There, on the 14th of September, Joel was born. He was brought up amid all the hardships of pioneer life.1 In the fall of 1809, at the age of seventeen, he entered the University of Vermont, but the sudden death of his father, the fol- lowing year, cut short his college career. He turned to the study of law in the office of the Hon. Stephen Royce, ex-Chief Justice and Governor of the State, and was ad- mitted to the Bar at St. Albans in 1815. Entering into practice at Sheldon he engaged as a lay reader in the neighborhood, and finally decided to enter the ministry.
1 These particulars are taken from a paper on The Life of the Rev. Joel Clap, D. D., read before the Vermont Historical Society at Burling- ton on January 23d, 1862, by the Rev. Dr. Hicks.
266 The History of St. Philip's Church
He was ordered Deacon by Alexander Viets Griswold, Bishop of the Eastern Diocese,1 at Greenfield, Massa- chusetts, on October 2nd, 1818, and was advanced to the priesthood by the same Bishop on the 17th of September, 1819, at Windsor, Vermont.2 He began his ministerial work in his native town and for more than forty years labored incessantly in the State. On October 17th, 1819, he was instituted by Bishop Griswold into the rectorship of Trinity Church, Shelburne. To this parish he added the care and oversight of the distant missionary stations extending over one hundred miles. In 1827 he took charge of the parishes of Bethel and Woodstock, where he re- mained until 1832, when he became Rector of Trinity Church, Gardiner, Maine. At the end of six years he returned to his former parish of Woodstock, and in 1846 became rector of Immanuel Church, Bellows Falls, Ver- mont, from which parish, after twelve years' devoted ser- vice, he was called to the rectorship of St. Philip's in the Highlands. He was then sixty-four years of age, worn with unwearied missionary labors, and he not unnatu- rally shrank from the task of building the new church. The comparative ease of the Chaplaincy of the Church Charity Foundation, Brooklyn, offered him the needed relief, and he resigned the rectorship at the close of 1859. The infirmities of age drove him back to Vermont, and in response to the most urgent request of his old friends he took the oversight of the churches in Berkshire and Montgomery. His scholarly attainments were recog- nized by the conferring of the M. A. degree by Middle-
1 The Eastern Diocese embraced Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.
2 Documentary History of the Diocese of Vermont, p. 173.
RECTOR, 1857-1859
Rectors of St. Philip's in the Highlands 267
bury College in 1820, and the degree of S. T. D. by the University of Norwich in 1845. Dr. Clap was a leader in the councils of the diocese of Vermont and the Church at large. From 1820 to 1832 he was Secretary of the diocese; for seven years President of the Standing Com- mittee; and for nine years Secretary of the Board of Land Agents of the Venerable Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, which held title to lands in the State. He rep- resented the diocese of Vermont in the General Conven- tions of 1829, 1841, 1844, 1847, 1850 and 1853, and was a delegate from the diocese of Maine in 1832 and 1838. In the year 1830 he was present at the sailing from Boston of the first foreign missionaries ever sent out by the American Church, and Alonzo Potter records that at a little service held in a boarding house the night before they sailed, "Some Collects and appropriate prayers were offered by our brother Clap of Vermont."1 Dr. Clap was twice married. His first wife was Abigail, daughter of Josiah Peckham of Sheldon, Vermont. She died at Woodstock. His second wife was a daughter of Isaac Hubbard of Claremont, New Hampshire.
The Rev. Charles Frederick Hoffman entered upon his duties as Rector of the parish in May, 1860, and was for- mally instituted on June 5th. He was the son of Samuel Verplanck Hoffman, and was born in White Street, New York City, in 1830. Graduating from Trinity College in 1851, he entered the General Theological Seminary, but before his term of study expired he was ordered Deacon by Bishop George Washington Doane, and spent the first three years of his ministerial life at Boonton, New
1 Perry, History of the American Episcopal Church, Vol. II, p. 244.
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268 The History of St. Philip's Church
Jersey. He then became assistant to Bishop Doane in the parochial work of St. Mary's, Burlington, whence he came to Garrison.
During Mr. Hoffman's long rectorship the present noble stone church was erected, as was also the Chapel of St. James at Manitou. Nor was his parochial work con- fined to these centres. He had the true missionary spirit. To a flock widely scattered on the hills and in the valleys he was a faithful shepherd. In his day St. Philip's was the only place of worship in the neighborhood of the river, and Mr. Hoffman was pastor to the entire community. Not content with ministering to those who attended the parish church, he held cottage services in the outlying districts.
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