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 2
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In all the places where we travelled and preached, we found the people well affected to the Doctrine which we preached among them, and they did gen- erally join with us decently in the Liturgy and Pub- lick Prayers, and the Administration of the Holy Sacraments, after the usage of the Church of Eng- land, as we had occasion to use them.
Slowly, but surely, the Church made headway. When the Rev. J. Thomas went to Oyster Bay in 1704 the people had been "wholly unacquainted with the Blessed Sacrament for five and fifty years together," yet seven years later he had "five and thirty of them in full Com- munion with the Church who (once) were entirely ignorant that Communion was a duty," and he had also "the most numerous of any country congregation within this or the neighboring Colonies." In Staten Island, where the Rev. E. Mackenzie was stationed (1704),
12 The History of St. Philip's Church
successful primary schools were established. The French congregation loaned their church building and the Dutch received the Prayer Book in their native tongue. In 1712 "a pretty handsome church" was opened, with a parsonage and glebe attached.
In those days Albany was an important trading center with a population of nearly 4,000, mainly Dutch. Some 300 soldiers were stationed in the fort to guard against the French and the Indians. In 1709 the Rev. Thomas Barclay commenced his missionary work, and for seven years was allowed the use of the Lutheran Church. A united effort was made to erect an Anglican Church, which called forth unexampled generosity. The town of Albany raised £200, the "poor soldiers of two Independ- ent Companies" giving £100; every inhabitant of the village of Schenectady contributed, "one very poor man excepted;" and three Dutch ministers added their contributions. The church was opened in 1717 and is described as "by far the finest structure in America."
In 1745 the Rev. William Vesey reported that in New York and New Jersey there were "twenty-two Churches, most of them commonly filled with hearers." Almost from the beginning the Church in New York engaged in missionary work. For three years the Rev. H. Beyre ministered to a Dutch congregation in Harlem (1710-13), where Colonel Morris had "persuaded the Dutch into a good opinion of the Church of England."
Even more worthy of note is the Church's ministra- tions to the slaves in New York. The missionaries and schoolmasters were instructed to prepare the slaves for Baptism and Confirmation, and sixteen priests and thirteen lay teachers were set apart for this work. In
13
The Church in New York
1704 a "Catechising School," under Mr. Elias Neau, was opened in New York to minister to those "who were without God in the world, and of whose souls there was no manner of care taken." Mr. Neau, having received from the Governor a license "to catechise the Negroes and Indians and the children of the town," left the French Church, "not upon any worldly account, but through a principle of conscience and hearty approbation of the English Liturgy," and devoted himself to work amongst the slaves. Many of the slave-owners opposed the effort, being "strangely prejudiced with a horrid notion thinking that the Christian knowledge would be a mean to make their slaves more cunning and apter to wickedness." In 1726 Trinity Vestry reported that there were in the city "about 1400 Negroe and Indian slaves, a considerable number of which had alreade been instructed in the principles of Christianity." This work was carried on till the Revolution.
Missionary work on a much larger scale was carried on amongst the Indians. There were five Indian nations bordering on the Province of New York, and the French Jesuits of Canada found in them a fruitful field for intrigue. Whereupon, the Lords of the Council (1703) requested the Archbishop of Canterbury to appoint "two Protestant Ministers with a competent allowance to dwell among them in order to instruct them in true Religion and confirm them in their duty to Her Majesty."
Lord Cornbury held a conference at Albany with five Sachems, who informed him that "they were glad to hear that the Sun shined in England again since King Wil- liam's death," and they hoped Queen Anne would be "a good mother and send them some to teach their Religion
14 The History of St. Philip's Church
and establish traffic amongst them, that they might be able to purchase a coat and not go to Church in bear skins." The first missionary to the Indians was the Rev. Thoroughgood Moore, who arrived in 1704 and was warm- ly welcomed by the Mohawks. In 1712 a chapel was opened for that tribe by the Rev. Thomas Barclay. The political difficulties with the French were a constant hindrance to the work of the missionaries. False reports were spread that "the white people were coming to cut them all in pieces," and that Mr. Barclay was "the chief contriver of the plot, and in league with the Devil." An even greater hindrance was the unwearying persistence of the Dutch traders in selling rum, but, in spite of all, the work was successfully prosecuted for many years.
The War of the Revolution seriously interrupted, but did not destroy, the mission of the Church in the Colony. The armed hostilities placed the Clergy in a most embarrassing position. They had solemnly taken the oath of supremacy to the King, and to omit the prayer for the royal family in the public services was against their oath and their conscience. In time of so great political excitement excesses were inevitable. The Cler- gy suffered severely. Some were "pulled out of their reading desks because they prayed for the King;" others were fined for not appearing at "militia musters with their arms." Many of the harassed Clergy closed their churches and fled for their lives, but, for a time, the Rev. Charles Inglis, Rector of Trinity Church, re- mained in the city. In April, 1776, the revolutionary forces arrived in New York. Mr. Inglis behaved with admirable discretion, yet remained true to his oath. It
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The Church in New York
was intimated to him that General Washington would attend the service, and "would be glad if the violent prayer for the King and royal family were omitted." May 17th was appointed by Congress "as a day of public fasting, prayer and humiliation," and Mr. Inglis preached on "Peace and Repentance." On a later Sunday a company of soldiers marched into Trinity Church "with drums beating and fifes playing, their guns loaded and bayonets fixed, as if going to battle."
In September, when one of the churches was re-opened, "joy was lighted up on every countenance on the restora- tion of our publick worship." It was short lived. On the Saturday following, one-fourth of the city, including Trinity Church, the rectory and the school, was des- troyed by fire. Feeling ran so high that in 1783 Mr. Inglis resigned his rectorship and was transferred to Nova Scotia, and his was the signal honor of becoming the first Colonial Bishop of the Anglican Church.
Through fire and water God brought the Church in America into a wealthy place, and set her feet in a large room. In 1787, Samuel Provoost was consecrated first Bishop of the Diocese of New York in the Chapel of Lambeth Palace, and the Church was firmly established in the State.
From New York to the County of Westchester was not a far cry even in those early days, and the work of the Church spread northward to that county, part of which was still in the wilderness. That there was pressing need of religious work in the county was apparent from the fact that in 1693 there were not more than six commun- icants of the Church in Westchester. A most striking picture of the religious conditions is drawn by Colonel
16 The History of St. Philip's Church Caleb Heathcote, who, writing of conditions in 1697, says:
I found it the most rude and heathenish country I ever saw in my whole life, which called themselves Christians, there being not so much as the least marks or footsteps of religion of any sort; Sundays being the only time sett apart by them for all manner of vain sports and lewd diversions, and they were grown to such a degree of rudeness that it was intol- erable, and having then command of the Militia, I sent an order to all the Captains, requiring their men under Arms, and to acquaint them, that in case they would not in any Town agree among themselves to appoint Readers and pass the Sabbath in the best way they could, till such time as they could be better provided, that they should every Sunday call their companies under arms, and spend the day in exercise.
Given such a choice, little wonder that the Colonel reports, "Whereupon it was unanimously agreed on through the County to make choice of Readers; which they accordingly did, and continued in those methods for some time."
CHAPTER III
ST. PETER'S CHURCH AND ST. PHILIP'S CHAPEL
F OR just seventy years St. Peter's on the Manor of Cortlandt and the chapel of St. Philip's in the Highlands were associated in a common paro- chial life. The threads of the history of the one are so closely woven with the other that the effort, in the next chapter, to recite the history of St. Philip's Chapel, without repetition, can only be partially successful. In this chapter events common to both are outlined.
St. Peter's Church stands on the Manor of Cortlandt, which included also the present parishes of North and South Salem, Somers and Yorktown. In 1697 eighty- three thousand acres of land were, by Royal Charter,1 erected into the lordship and manor of Cortlandt, the first Lord of the Manor being Colonel Stephanus Van Cortlandt, one of the members of the Council of the Province of New York. By the terms of the Charter the owner enjoyed the patronage of all the churches erect- ed on the Manor, and was required to pay "at our city of New York on the feast day of the Annunciation of our Blessed Virgin Mary, the yearly rent of forty shillings current money of our said Province."
In 1693 there was passed in the New York Assembly an Act for the Settlement of a Ministry. That Act provided for the maintenance of ministers in New York
1 Book of Patents, Albany, No. VII, 165.
18 The History of St. Philip's Church
city, and the counties of Kings, Queens, Richmond and Westchester. For the latter county two ministers were provided, one to be stationed at Rye, the other at West- chester. Although persistent efforts were made to cap- ture the provision for a Puritan ministry, the potent influence of Governor Fletcher secured it for the Church of England in the Colony.
The first missionary of the Church appointed under this Act in Westchester County was the Rev. John Bartow, formerly Vicar of Pampsford, Cambridgeshire. He was appointed to Rye in 1702, but through the in- fluence of Colonel Caleb Heathcote, took up his residence at Westchester, where there was already a wooden church with neither desk, pulpit nor bell. Two years later the Rev. Thomas Pritchard, a Welshman, took charge of the work at Rye, where, there being no church building, he preached in the Town House.
From these two centers the county was evangelized. In 1703 Mr. Bartow visited Eastchester and held occa- sional services, which resulted in the entire body of Pres- byterians conforming to the Church. In the same year he went to Yonkers, where services were conducted in a private house and sometimes in a barn. From Rye the Rev. George Muirson reached out to Bedford, where he preached every fourth Sunday, and found them "a very willful and stubborn people."
In 1724 the Rev. Robert Jenney held services at White Plains and officiated eight times a year at Mamaroneck, and the same year he extended his work to Northcastle. A notable addition to the strength of the Church was the adhesion of the French Huguenot congregation and minister of New Rochelle in 1709.
ST. PETER'S CHURCH
1767
St. Peter's Church and St. Philip's Chapel 19
As time went on an effort was made to evangelize the northern section of the county. The manuscript records of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel show, that as early as 1744, the Rev. James Wetmore, of Rye, conducted church services at Peekskill. Writing on April 3rd, 1746, he says: "That as there are great num- bers of people in the wilderness northward of Bedford and Westchester, who have very little knowledge or sense of religion, Mr. Lamson's1 labors will be employed to good purpose among them." The Rev. Ebenezer Dibblee of Stamford, Connecticut, who traversed the same district in 1761, "found no settled teacher of any denomina- tion, but met several heads of families, professors of the Church of England, and many others well disposed towards it." His companion on the same journey, Mr. St. George Talbot, reports: "The state of religion I tru- ly found deplorable enough; they were as sheep without a shepherd, a prey to various sectaries, and enthusiastic lay teachers; there are many well wishers and professors of the Church among them, who doth not hear the liturgy in several years."
The first known step towards the erection of a house of worship on Cortlandt Manor was on March 23rd, 1750, when Andrew Johnson conveyed six acres of land for that purpose. He was the husband of Catharine Van Cortlandt. The deed ran as follows:
1 Rev. Joseph Lamson was born at Stratford, Conn., and after his graduation from Yale entered the Church. After his ordination in England he was appointed by the S. P. G. as assistant to the Rev. Mr. Wetmore at Rye to minister to the inhabitants of Bedford, North Castle, and Ridgefield at a salary of £20 per year. From thence he went to Fairfield, Conn., where he ministered for 26 years. He died in 1773.
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The History of St. Philip's Church
Andrew Johnson of Perth Amboy, East Jersey, party of the first part, for the value of five pounds, conveys to Caleb Hall, Joseph Travis and Palatiah Hows, parties of the second part, a parcel of land ly- ing at a place called Peekskill, being a part of lot no. 8, beginning at the north-east corner of the second parcel of land lately purchased by Joseph Taylor, by the north side of Crumpond road, containing six acres, &c. to have and to hold in trust for a school and burying place, and also for their executors and successors in trust, to the only proper use, benefit and behoof and exercise of the public worship of God; and that it be for that purpose in the erecting and build- ing of a meeting house or houses for the religions, (un- der the protection of our most gracious majesty) either the Church of England, Presbyterian, Independents, Baptists or Congregationalists, &c. to erect and build a house for the religious exercise of public worship of God, with a convenient yard thereto, to them the said Caleb Hall, &c., their heirs and successors, in trust for the neighbourhood and inhabitants round about from generation to generation for ever, and for no other use, purpose or intent whatsoever.1
This gift of land was not utilized for sixteen years. But in 1766 certain subscribers, both of the Manor of Cortlandt and the lower part of Philipse's Upper Patent,2 appointed Trustees "for directing and carrying on a building, and for securing it to the inhabitants as a place of public worship, according to the establishment of the Church of England."3 The trustees were Beverly Robinson, Jeremiah Drake, Caleb Ward, Isaac Hatfield and Charles Moore. The church was called St. Peter's,
1 Westchester County Records, Lib. H, 339.
2 Now Putnam County.
3 Bolton's History of Westchester County, Vol. I, 119.
St. Peter's Church and St. Philip's Chapel 21
and was opened for divine service on the 9th of August, 1767, by the Rev. John Ogilvie, D. D., of New York. Born in 1723, Dr. Ogilvie was a graduate of Yale. He married Margaret Philipse, daughter of Nathaniel Marston. Ordained by the Bishop of London, his principal work was amongst the Indians at Albany and in Canada, and he subsequently became an Assistant Minister in Trinity Church, New York. He died Novem- ber 26th, 1774.
There is still preserved an old quarto Bible, printed in 1728, in which there is the following entry:
The gift of Mrs. Susannah Robinson,1 to S. Peter's Church, at Peekskill which Church was by the desire of Beverly Robinson, Esq., Messrs. Jeremiah Drake, Caleb Ward, Isaac Hatfield, and Charles Moore, trustees, appointed by the subscribers to said Church for directing and carrying on said building, and for securing it to the inhabitants as a place of public worship, according to the establishment of the Church of England, on Sunday the 9th of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and sixty- seven, being the eighth Sunday after Trinity, conse- crated by the Rev. Dr. John Ogilvie of New York, for the service of the Holy Trinity, according to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England, as by law established, by the name of S. Peter's Church.
From a letter dated October 15th, 1770, it would appear that the church was by no means finished at the opening service, but it was subsequently made "a decent and comfortable building for performing divine worship in." A recently discovered letter, written by William
1 Wife of Beverly Robinson.
22 The History of St. Philip's Church
Denning in 1795 to the Rev. Mr. Hargill, sheds valuable light upon the building of St. Peter's. He says:
When S. Peter's was built, near Peekskill, so very unable were the Episcopalians to accomplish it that they called upon their friends of the Presbyter- ian congregation to assist them and promised that whenever the building was unoccupied by the Epis- copalian congregation, that of the Presbyterians should have the use of it. This seems to have been well understood and conceded by the Episcopalians.1
This fact may somewhat account for the attempt made by the Presbyterians, about 1789, to take possession of the church.
The church erected, steps were then taken to create a parish, with a vestry, in which the property could be legally vested. As early as March of 1770 the Trustees had petitioned Lieutenant-Governor Colden for a Royal Charter which was formally granted under date of August 18th, 1770.
Royal Charter of St. Peter's Church:
George the Third, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c., to all to whom these presents shall come, greeting:
Whereas, our loving subjects, Beverly Robinson, Charles Moore, Jeremiah Drake, Caleb Ward, John Johnson, Joshua Nelson, Thomas Davenport and Henry Purdy, on behalf of themselves and sundry in- habitants on the upper part of the Manor of Cort- landt, and the lower part of Philipse Patent, in com- munion of the Church of England as by law estab-
1 Archives of Trinity Corporation, Sept. 10th, 1795.
John Ogilvie
St. Peter's Church and St. Philip's Chapel 23
lished, by their humble petition, presented on the 21st day of March now last past, to our trusty and well beloved Cadwallader Colden, Esq., our Lieutenant Governor and Commander-in-Chief of our Province of New York and the territories depending thereon in America, in Council, did set forth that the petitioners have at a great expense and trouble erected a con- venient house for a place of Divine Worship near Peekskill, to be according to the Church of England as by law established, and being very desirous of pro- moting the same, and settling a minister amongst them, did humbly conceive that if our said Lieuten- ant-Governor and Commander-in-Chief would be pleased to take the matter into consideration, and to grant them a Charter with such privileges, immunities and conditions as our said Lieutenant-Governor and Commander-in-Chief should see fit, and that the said Beverly Robinson and Charles Moore may be ap- pointed church-wardens, and the said Jeremiah Drake, Caleb Ward, John Johnson, Joshua Nelson, Thomas Davenport and Henry Purdy, vestrymen in the Charter, by the name of the church-wardens and vestrymen of S. Peter's Church, in the Manor of Cortlandt, near Peekskill. No one being willing to encourage the pious intentions of our said loving subjects, and to grant their reasonable request, know ye, that of our especial grace, certain knowledge and mere motion, we have ordained, given, granted and declared, and by these presents for us, our heirs and successors, do ordain, give, grant and declare, that the said petitioners and such other person and persons, and their successors for ever, as now are or shall hereafter from time to time be, as well of the Church of England as by law established, as members of the congregation of the said church in the herein above recited petition, called S. Peter's Church, in the. Manor of Cortlandt, near Peekskill, and also contrib -.
24 The History of St. Philip's Church
utors to the support and maintenance of a minister of the Church of England as by law established, to officiate in the said church for the time being, shall, with the rector of the said church of S. Peter's for the time being, forever hereafter be one body corporate and politic, in deed, fact and name, by the name, style and title of the rector and members of S. Peter's Church, in the Manor of Cortlandt, near Peekskill. And them and their successors by the same name, we do by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, really and fully make, erect, create and constitute one body politic and corporate in deed, fact and name, forever, and will give, grant and ordain that they and their successors, the rector and members of S. Peter's Church, in the Manor of Cortlandt, near Peekskill, by the same name shall and may have perpetual succession, and shall and may be capable in law to sue and be sued, impleade and be impleaded, answer and be answered unto, defend and be defended in all courts and elsewhere in all manner of actions, suits, complaints, pleas, causes, matters and demands whatsoever, as fully and amply as any our liege sub- jects of our said Province of New York may or can sue or be sued, impleade or be impleaded, defend or be defended, by any lawful ways or means whatsoever; and that they and their successors by the same name shall be for ever hereafter capable and able in the law to purchase, take, hold, receive and enjoy any mes- suages, tenements, houses and real estate whatso- ever in fee simple, for term of life or lives, or in any other manner howsoever for the use of the said church, and also any goods, chattels, or personal estate whatsoever, provided always that the clear yearly value of the said real estate (exclusive of the said church and the ground whereon the same is built, and the cemetery belonging to the same) doth not at any time exceed the sum of one thousand
St. Peter's Church and St. Philip's Chapel 25
pounds current money of our said Province; and that they and their successors by the same name, shall have full power and authority to give, grant, sell, lease and dispose of the same real estate for life or lives, or years, or forever, under certain yearly rents, and all goods, chattels and personal estate whatsoever at their will and pleasure.
And that it shall and may be lawful for them and their successors to have and use a common seal.
And our will and pleasure further is, and we do hereby for us, our heirs and successors, ordain and appoint that there shall be forever hereafter belong- ing to the said church, one rector of the Church of England as by law established, duly qualified for the cure of souls, two church wardens and six vestrymen, who shall conduct and manage the affairs and busi- ness of said church and corporation in manner as hereafter is declared and appointed; and for the more immediate carrying into execution our royal will and pleasure herein, we do hereby assign, constitute and appoint Beverly Robinson and Charles Moore to be the present churchwardens, and Jeremiah Drake, Caleb Ward, John Johnson, Joshua Nelson, Thomas Davenport and Henry Purdy to be the present vestry- men of the said church, who shall hold, possess and enjoy their said respective offices until Tuesday in Easter week now next ensuing, and yearly, and every year thereafter for ever, on Tuesday, in Easter week, in every year, the rector and members of S. Peter's Church, in the Manor of Cortlandt, near Peekskill, shall meet at the said church, and there by the ma- jority of voices of such of them as shall so meet, elect and choose two of their members to be church-war- dens, and six others of their members to be vestry- men of the said church for the ensuing year, which said church-wardens and vestrymen so elected and chosen shall enter upon their respective offices and
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The History of St. Philip's Church
hold, exercise and enjoy the same respectively from the time of such elections, for and during the space of one year, and until other fit persons shall be elected and chosen in their respective places; and in case the church-wardens or vestrymen, or either of them, by these presents named and appointed, or who shall be hereafter elected or chosen by virtue of these presents, shall die before the time of their respective appointed services shall be expired, or refuse or neglect to act in the office for which he or they is or are herein nom- inated and appointed, or whereunto he or they shall or may be so elected and chosen, then our royal will and pleasure is, and we do hereby direct, ordain and require the rector and members of S. Peter's Church, in the Manor of Cortlandt, near Peekskill, for the time being do meet at the said church, and choose other or others of their members, in the place and stead of him or them so dying, or neglecting or refusing to act with- in thirty days next after such contingency. And in this case for the more due and orderly conducting the said elections, and to prevent any undue proceedings therein, we do hereby give full power and authority to ordain and require that the rector and the said church-wardens of the said church, for the time being, or any two of them, shall appoint the time for such election and elections, and that the rector of the said church, or in his absence, one of the said church-war- dens for the time being, shall give public notice there- of by publishing the same at the said church imme- diately after divine service, on the Sunday next pre- ceding the day appointed for such elections; hereby giving and granting that such person or persons as shall be so chosen from time to time by the rector and members of S. Peter's church, in the Manor of Cort- landt, near Peekskill, or the majority of such of them as shall in such case meet in manner hereby directed, shall have, hold, exercise and enjoy such, the office or
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