USA > New York > Ulster County > History of Ulster County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers. Vol. I > Part 57
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219
CITY AND TOWN OF KINGSTON.
John W. Kerr, Abraham Wood, Augustus Schoonmaker, Jr., Elijah Du Bois, Matthew Winchell. John W. Cole, James E. Os- trander, M. M. Friselle: C. R. Abbott, Secretary and Superintend- ent : Cornelius Burhans, Treasurer : Elijah Ellsworth, Collec- tor.
Sept. 1, 18;0 .-- Hon. Marius Schoonmaker, President: Abraham Wood. Augustus Schoonmaker, Jr., Elijah Du Bois, Matthew Winchell, John W. Cole, James E. Ostrander, M. M. Friselle, Warren Chipp, John F. Sleight; J. II. Zelle, Secretary and Su- perinten dent : Cornelius Burhans, Treasurer : Elijah Ellsworth, Collector.
Sept. 1, 1571 .- Hon. Marius Schoonmaker, President ; John W. Cole, James E. Ostrander, M. M. Friselle, Warren Chipp, John D. Sleight, Charles W. Fisk, William M. Hayes, John E. Van Etten, Alfred Nudler ; J. Il. Zelle, Secretary aud Superintendent : James E. Ostrander, Treasurer: Elijah Ellsworth, Collector.
Sept. 1, 1572 .- Hon. Marius Schoonmaker, Presilent; E. M. Brig- batu, James E. Ostran ler, F. L. Westbrook. Warren Chipp, Charles Reynold !- , Charles W. Fisk, William M. Hayes, John E. Van Etten. Alfredl Hudler; James Barkley, Secretary and Super- intendent ; James E. Ostrander, Trea-urer : John J. Davis, Col- lector.
Sept. 1, 1873 .- E. M. Brigham, President ; James E. Ostrander, F. L. Westbrook, Charles W. Fisk, A. T. Newton. C. P. Ridenour, David Bradbury, William M. Hayes, John E. Van Etten, Alfred Jludler : R. C. Barrett, Secretary an 1 Superintendent : James E. Ostrander, Treasurer; Thomas Beekman, Collector.
Sept. 1, 1574 .- K. M. Brigham, President ; Charles Reynolds, H. D. Baldwin, Charles W. Fisk, Alfred Hadler, A. T. Newton, C. P. Rienour, Daniel Bradbury. James E. Ostrander, F. L. West. brook ; R. C. Barrett, Secretary andI Superintendent; James E. Ostrander, Treasurer; J. Deyo Chipp. Collector.
Sept. 1, 1875 .- E. M. Brigham, President: James E. Ostrander, F. L. Westbrook, Alfred lludler, Charles Reynolds, H. D. Ballwin, Charles W. Fisk, Daniel Bradbury, C. P. Ridenonr, Augustus T. Newton; C. MI. Ryon, Secretary and Superintendent; James F. Ostrander, Treasurer; Albert G. Nichols, Collector.
Sept. 1, 1816,-E. M. Brigban:, President : Jatees E. Ostrander, F. L. Westbrook, Alfred Hudler, Charles Reynoble. H. D. Baldwin, Charles W. Fisk, Daniel Bradbury, C. P. Ridenour, William M. flayes; C. M. Ryon, Secretary and Superintendent ; James E. Ostrander, Treasurer ; S. S. Westbrook, Collector.
Sept. 1, 1877 .- E. M. Brigham, Pre-ident; Jamies F. Ostrander, F. I .. Westbrook, Daniel Bradbury, C. P. Riderour, William M. Hayes, Jefferson MeCausland, Jr., Charles Reynolds, I. D. Baldwin, Willian E. Houghtaling: C. M. Ryon, Secretary ; James E. Ostrander, Treasurer : S. S. Westbrook, Collector.
Sept. 1. 1974 .- K. M. Brighamn, President ; Daniel Bradbury, C. P. Kilenour, William M. Hayes, Jefferson MeCausland, Jr .. Charles Reynolds, Henry D. Baldwin, William E. Houghtaliug, James K .. Ostrander. F. J. Westbrook : C. M. Ryon, Secretary ; Jamies F. Ustrailer, Treasurer ; S. S. Westbrook. Collector.
Sept. 1, 1579 .- C. P. Ridenour, President: Jefferson Me Causland. Jr., Beary D. Baldwin, William E. Houghtaling. James E. Ostrander, F. L. Westbrook, Dante! Bradbury, William SI. Hayes, Charles Reynolds, E. M. Brigham, C. M. Ryon, Secretary ; James E. Ostrander, Treasurer ; Alfred Hudler, Collector.
Sept. 1, 1880,-C. P. Ridenour, President ; D. M. Brigham, James E. Ostrander, F. L. Westbrook. Daniel Bradbury, William M. Hayes ; C. M. Ryon, Secretary ; James E. Ostrander, Treasurer; Alfred Hudler, Collector.
The teachers in the employ of the Kingston Board of Education ( May, 1880) are as follows :
Academy .- Thomas Raftery, Principal; Harry Crouch, Lorena Dolson, Assistants.
High School .- Charles M. Ryon, Principal; Sarah Sparling, Assistant ; Hattie A. Smith, Teacher of Draw- ing in this and the other schools of Kingston.
Central School, Primary .- Jennie Van Buren.
School No. 3 .- Albert J. Miner, Principal ; Mary A. . Diamond, Kate Schoonmaker, Carrie Chipp, Carrie F. James, Elizabeth Mills, Assistants.
! 1
School No. 8 .- Henry D. Darrow, Principal ; I. Hen- rietta Ingbam, Jane L. Van Buren, Bella B. Berustein, Alice W. Chipp, Cora D. Deyo, Anna M. Lines, Kate Hamilton. Assistants.
School No. 11 .- J. Barhite, Principal ; Sara Godkins, Lillie Bullock, Anna M. De Puy, Ella Valkenbergh, Ella Burger, Mrs. E. Van Wagenen, Mary M. Tolley, Assist- ants.
School " No. 15 .- Andrew E. Schepmoes, Principal ; Sarah C. Deyo, Assistant.
The schools of Rondout have not been incorporated into the general system existing in the " Kingston District" prior to the organization of the city. They still remain under their own management, in the same form as they were established while the village of Rondout was a dis- tinet corporation. They are also separate districts, each reporting direct to the school commissioners.
In addition to the public schools mentioned, there is an excellent school known as the " Academy of Our Lady of Lourdes," maintained by the Catholics. Citizens speak in high praise of the orderly habits of the children trained there. Four sisters conduct the school, and two brothers conduct the Christian Brothers' Academy.
School No. 1, Wilbur Avenue .- The board of trustees consists of James McLoughlin, John Quigley, Caspar Schick. The librarian and clerk is John J. Moran. The school building is arranged for two departments, and the present teachers ( May, 1880) are Annie J. Dunne, Princi- pal; Mary J. Dunne, Assistant.
School No. 2, Pierpont near Holmes .- This has an academic department under the care of the Regents, and called Ulster Academy. The board of trustees in charge consists of Judge William Lawton, President ; William Winter, Clerk; and Anthony Reiser. Teachers (May, ISSO) : L. M. Edwards, Principal ; Misses S. J. Stephen- son, Nelle Wood, Emily Pattison, Abby Ayer, Delia Gokey, Hannah Carpenter, Louise Dearstyne, Lottie Ed- monds, Loretta Mauterstock, Helen Mackey, Minnie Coen, Assistants.
School No. 3, Chambers near St. Mary's .- The board of trustees (1879-80) consists of John Hubec, Patrick Flynn, and John Muldoon, and the teachers for the current year are James McCabe, Principal; P. H. MeGivney, First Assistant.
Union Free School, No. 4 .- The board of trustees in this district consists of D. B. Abbey, J. H. Cordts, James Rodie. The school is arranged in three departments, pri- mary, intermediate, higher. The teachers at the present time, May, 1880, are,-higher department : 1. Hawkins, Principal ; Ciara L. Rac, Assistant. Intermediate depart- ment, Anna C. Rodie. Primary department : Mary Mi. Bliss, Fourth Grade ; Josephine Deyo, Third Grade ; Jen- nie Manchester, Second Grade; Georgia Deudney, First Grade.
The present condition of the schools of the city is con- cisely shown by the figures given in the following appor- tionment :
220
HISTORY OF ULSTER COUNTY, NEW YORK.
COMMISSIONERS' CERTIFICATE OF APPORTIONMENT.
Number of District.
Number of children
201
66,723
$35.20
$130 52
$119.47
SG 17
$351.46
1315
442,07.3
5.1.20
~04.74
7-1.57
40.35
3
1327
310,000
30.80
615.13
7-8.71
$0.55
266.000
333.20
520.32
524.22
27.09
144.82
5
2592
1177,361
14;5.60
2305.03
1718.86
88.82
5586.31
$4436.74 , $2232.83 $203.20 Supervision City, 800.00
$12,228.77
Signed by
WILLIAM E. MOWER, H. N. BAUSCHER, S. D. Sol'LE, School Commissioners.
No. 1 is the Wilbur School, No. 2 the Cister Academy, No. 3 is on Chambers Street near St. Mary's, No. 4 is al Punekbockle; these are all in The Eastern district of the city, while No. 5 comprebends the entire Western department, the Kingston consolidated districts.
VIII .- CHURCHES.
THE (FIRST) REFORMED PROTESTANT DUTCH CHURCH OF KINGSTONS
is one of the oldest churches of that denomination in the country, and from it many of the older churches in the counties of Ulster and Orange originated. Its founders were principally emigrants from Holland, having first settled in the manor of Rensselaerwyck. Unwilling to subinit to the fendal exactious of the patroon, they came to Atkarkar- ton, as the place was called by the Indians, or Wiltwyck, afterwards Esopus, by the Dutch, in 1655. In consequence of difficulties with the Indians the settlers left the place, but soon returned. Although they were surrounded by hostile savages, and in their poverty were required to laber hard for their subsistence, they did not forget God, having imbibed the devout spirit which prompted their fathers to the Union of Utrecht. Every Sunday morning they as- sembled at one of their houses and engaged in religious worship, when prayer was offered, and a homily or " pos- tille" was read by one of their number. In the spring of 165S . there were between CO and 70 Christians" at Esopus, when hostilities with the Indians were again renewed, and the former wrote to Governor Stuyvesant to send them soldiers " to save the Esopus." The Governor visited the settlement with 50 soldiers ou the 29th of May, and the day following. " being ' Ascension Day,' the people, having no church, assembled at the house of Jacob Jansen Stol to keep the festival." As they had no ordained minister, a " voorleeser," or reader, according to the custom in Holland, had been appointed, whose duty it was to conduct the services aud catechise the children. The first person who held this office was Jacob Van Slyke, who emne from Catskill, where he had been in the service of the patroon. He was suc- ceeded by Audries Van Der Sluys, who received his ap- pointment from Governor Stuyvesant, and who was also required " to teach the children letters," for which services
# By the Rev. John C. F. Hoes, D. D., except the brief portion re- Iating to his own ministry.
he received a compensation from the people, and thus became the first schoolmaster in Esopus.
In consequence of the great scarcity of ministers of the gospel in New Netherlands, constant appeals were made to the Classis of Amsterdam to send over properly-qualified mien, who should become pastors of these infant settlements. Hermannus Blom, a native of Holland and a candidate for the ministry, was among the first to respond to these ap- peals. Ile arrived in this country in April, 1659, and. having preached in New Amsterdam and its vicinity for a while, visited Esopus, and on the 17th of August preached two sermons. So acceptable were his services that a church was immediately organized, and a petition, in the nature of a call, was made for him to become their pastor. This petition was signed by William Jansen, Jan Broessen, Der- ick Hendricks, Matthys Roelofsen, Albert Goeverts, Hen- drick Cornelissen, Jacob Jansen Stol, Thomas Chambers. Jurian Westphal, Jacob Jansen Stoutenburgh, John Jansen, and Cornelis Barent Sleght. They promised to provide Dominie Blom " with a good farin, house, and barn, cows and oxen, and pay him 700 guilders [8280] at beaver valuation, to commence from the 5th Sept., 1660."
Blom signified his acceptance of their call, subject to the approval of the Governor-General and the Classis of Amsterdam, but, as there was no competent judicatory in this country to ordain him, he returned to Holland and was ordained by the Classis of Amsterdam, Feb. 16, 1660, and commissioned to preach " both on the water and the land, and in all the neighborhood, but especially in Esopus." He returned in the West Judia Company's yacht about the 1st of July, 1660. In consequence of renewed hostilities between the Indians and the settlers, it was not deemed prudent for him to proceed at once to Esopus. Very soon. however, after the suspension of hostilities Blom sailed for Esopus, and arrived there Sept. 5, 1660. He was received by the church and people " with signal expressions of joy. and conducted to the village in state." He immediately entered upon his ministerial duties, as appears from the earliest record made in Dutch, by himself, in the first volume of the books of the church, which is as follows : " I, Her- mannus Blom, the first preacher in the land of Esopus, preached my first sermon on the 12th day of September, 1660, having arrived there on the 5th day of the month in the company's yacht."t
In imitation of the example of the " good Shepherd" he gathered the members of the church together, and, having instructed them as to their duties and obligations, he, on the 25th day of December, 1660, administered the sacra- ment of the Lord's Supper for the first time to the follow- ing vamed persons: Anna Blom, wife of Dominie Blom, Jacob Joosten, Jacob Burhans, Mattiu ( Matthew) Blashan (Blanshan) and Maddelyn Jorise, his wife, Anton Crepel (Crispell) and Maria Blashan ( Blanshan), his wife, An- dries Barentse, a soldier, and Hilletjen Hendrix ( Hen- dricks), his wife, Margriet Chambrits, Geertruy Andricse. Ræloff Swartwout and Evaa Swartwout, his wife, Cornelis Sleight and Tryntje Tysse, his wife, Albert Roosaa and Weylke de Yough, his wife.
t See fac-simile on opposite page. .
Total to be paid to
Districts.
Accord- ing to
Ing to
District
Average
Number
Quota.
Daily at.
of Clul-
tendauce.
dren.
1
Apportioned for Teachers' Wages.
Average daily
between 5 and 21
years of age.
Attendance.
Accont-
Library Money.
$11,428.77
6617
2268,157
$2856.00
2
221
CITY AND TOWN OF KINGSTON.
FAC-SIMILE OF THE FIRST ENTRY IN THE EARLIEST BOOK OF RECORDS OF THE (FIRST) RE- FORMED CHURCH OF KINGSTON, N. Y., 1660.
Imamnis Bylom somto produant ist lant Efirms: alain godasy all proviant my so fa provicari boy 12 september 1660: kad rat with Day " Don Volver-matt gro Fondant aldade must fort campings Jaogenes joanwort;
FAC-SIMILE SIGNATURES OF THE SUCCESSIVE MINISTERS OF THE (FIRST) REFORMED CHURCH OF KINGSTON, N. Y., 1600-1880.
Formanuevo Alors. Hermanus Meyer
Lamint Man GaagRese. George IL Doll
Johannes DEQuestion.
. Laurentiis Van Den Bosch
g. P. Mincedla.
Fammicuf 30g.
Petrus Nas
Georg Wilhelm Mancing
John Coman. Johan Lillie 8fff Nagimano John lith Hors- J. K. Naudiwer gy VanLe, he
HISTORY OF ULSTER COUNTY, NEW YORK.
The next year (1661) a new log edifice, " substantial and convenient," was erected on the northeast corner of Pearl and Main Streets, and dedicated to the service of God. This was the first church in which the people worshiped, and where the ordinances of religion were statedly admin- istered.
A suitable lot having been previously secured, a com- fortable parsonage was this year also erected, " which glad- dened the heart of the dominie and his wife," and which was located on the corner of Clinton Avenue and Pearl Street, near where now stands the commodious residence of Mr. J. S. Burhans, a descendant of one of the seventeen original communicants.
Dominie Blom was a devoted and zealous minister of the gospel. In addition to two regular services on the Sabbath, and on Christmas, Easter, Ascension, and Whitsunday,* when the Lord's Supper was administered, he instituted meetings for social prayer and the catechetical instruction of the children and youth. In three years the church increased from 16 to 60 members, and "everything was well ordered in church matters and Consistory."
But their joy was soon turned into mourning. On the 7th of June, 1663, while most of the men were away from their families engaged in their agricultural pursuits, the Indians made a concerted attack on the settlement, burned twelve dwellings. killed four and carried away forty-five per- sons.f The schout, Thomas Chambers, and Dominic Blom, aided by a few men and the women, using a small piece of ord- Dance, engaged in a deadly conflict with the savages, and so routed them that they fled to the mountains. A detailed account of the burning of the place, with its attendant bor- rors, written by Blom, is found in the " Documentary History of New York," vol. iii. pp. 582, 583, royal quarto edition.
The effect of this calamity was highly disastrous to the infant church and settlement. But Blom's trust in God was unfaltering. At his request, Governor Stuyvesant appointed the 7th day of June to be observed annually as a day of thanksgiving in commemoration of the escape of so many from massacre on that fearful day. And . prayers also were offered every evening from the four points of the fort under the blue sky that the Lord would bless and not forsake them." Such unwavering faith in God did not pass unrewarded, for he was soon able, in peace and safety, again to prosecute the work of the Lord.
After the first shock of Indian warfare had passed and peace was restored, Blom and his church were found actively engaged in labors for the spiritual good of the people. But a short time had passed away, however, be- fore another severe affliction rested on them. On the 13th of September, 1666, the dominic's wife, Anna Blom, while on a visit to the Manhattans (New York), suddenly died, and was buried there. Far from kindred, amid strangers and diseonsolate, on the 28th of January, 1667, Blom requested His Consistory to release him from his church, assigning as a reason for the request " the loss of his wife and the slow payment of his salary." To this request they
reluctantly assented, and thus terminated the pastorate of the first minister of Esopus, after six and a half years of faithful labor. Blom then returned to Holland and be- came pastor of the Dutch Church at Wonbrugghe.
The church remained without a regular pastor for the next eleven years, during which time the ministers from Fort Orange ( Albany) and New Amsterdam ocasionally visited the place and performed ministerial services. Their " voorleeser" (reader) also conducted worship on Sundays and feast-days. In the spring of 1678, Petrus Tessehenmaeker, a candidate for the ministry, visited Esopus and preached for the people. So pleased were they with his services that a petition, signed by 49 men, was addressed to Governor Andros, asking that he might be appointed minister of the church. Among the reasons assigned was the ability of Mr. Tesschenmaeker to preach in both the Dutch and Eng- lish languages, and the inability of the people to support two ministers. He contined to preach at Esopus until the arrival of Dominie Laurentius Van Gaasbeek, who had been sent by the Classis of Amsterdam to take charge of the church, when Tessehenmacker left, and went to New Castle on the Delaware. He did not long remain at that place, for in 1684 he became the first pastor of the Reformed Dutch Church of Schenectady, where he continued to preach until the 5th of February, 1690, when he was mur- dered by the savages during the burning and massaere of its citizens by the French and Indians sent out under Frontenac.
The fertile lands in the valley of the Esopus, especially adapted to the raising of wheat, had already become widely known, and attracted immigrants to the settlement, to whom the pastor of the church at Esopns ministered. In response to a request from the Consistory, addressed to the Classis of Amsterdam, approved by Governor Andros, Oct. S, 1677, Dominie Laurentius Van Gaasbeek was sent out as pastor of the church of Esopus. He was called to preach at Kingston, Hurley, and Marbletown, for eight years, at an annual salary of GG0 schepels (495 bushels) of wheat,- Hurley to pay 100 schepels, Marbletown 160, and Kings- ton 400.
On the 30th January, 1679, Wessel Ten Broeck and John Masten were chosen elders, Jacob Aertsen (Van Wagenen), and Jacob Staats deacons.
Dominie Van Gaasbeek was graduated from the renowned University of Leyden, May 25, 1674. He was both a physician and clergyman, hence he was called the " Domi- nie Doctor." His diploma is in the possession of one of his descendants in Kingston. He, with his family, arrived in Esopus, Sept. S, 1678, and on the 15th of the same month preached his first sermon.
In consequence of the protracted vaeaney in the pastor- ate, the church had become much weakened and scattered, but still Mr. Van Gaasbeck found 80 members at Kings- ton, 30 at Hurley, and 20 at Marbletown. He was zeal- ous and faithful in the discharge of his duties, and awak- ened a corresponding spirit in the church, and a blessing attended their efforts, so that in one year the membership had increased to 150. A new and substantial stone church, 45 by 60 feet, had been erected on the northeast corner of Wall and Main Streets, in true Holland style, with highly-
* It is not certainly known whether or not the Lord's Supper was administered by Dominie Blom on Whitsunday.
+ See Blom's letter.
223
CITY AND TOWN OF KINGSTON.
colored and painted window-glass, bearing the coat-of-arms of their progenitors of the Fatherland, which was completed and dedicated about Jan. 1, 1670. But Mr. Van Gaas- beek was not loug permitted to preach in this church, for he was very soon taken siek with a fever, and went to New York for medical attention, where he died February, 1680.
The unexpected death of Mr. Van Gaasbeek filled the minds of the people with sadness, and cast a gloom over the prospects of the young church. But in compliance with a request from the Consistory, made November, 1680, the Classis of Amsterdam sent his brother-in-law, Dominie Johannes Weekstein, to become its pastor. He was a candi- date for the ministry, living at Haarlem, in Holland, and was ordained by the Classis of Amsterdam. He arrived with his family in Kingston, Sept. 11, 1681, and preached his first sermon on the 18th of the same month. In con- sequence of the severity of the climate, his health became impaired, and for nearly two years he was unable to perform full service. After a faithful and successful pastorate of six years, he died, March 17, 1687, and was buried, accord- ing to the custom of the day, under the church in which he had preached. And thus " the little church in the wilder- ness" was deprived a second time of its zealous pastor by the inexorable hand of death.
It was during the ministry of Dominio Weeksteiu that the little colony which went out from Kingston in 1677 were organized into the Church of New Paltz, Jan. 22, 1683, by the Rev. Pierre Daille, as the " Congregation of the Walloon Protestant Church," and to which the pastors of Kingston frequently ministered.
Very soon after the death of Weekstein, Dominie Lauren- tius Vanden Bosch came to Kingston and preached, and so acceptable were his services that the Consistery on the 20th of June, 1687, gave him a call, which he accepted, and be- came the pastor of the church. He professed to have come from London, claiming to have credentials from its bishop, and also from the Classis of Amsterdam, but he would never exhibit them. He soon fell into gross immoralities which issued in the dissolution of his ministry, October, 1689. He went to Maryland, leaving the church in a dis- tracted statc.
For the next six years the church of Esopus had no resident pastor, but was occasionally supplied by their old friend Dellius, from Fort Orange, who also rendered efficient Service in obtaining another pastor. The Classis of Amster- dam was again requested to send thein another minister, and accordingly Dominio John Petrus Nucella was ordained and sent over to take charge of the ehreb. He arrived in Kings- tou Dec. 15, 1695, and immediately commeneed to preach in Kingston. Hurley, Marbletown, and Mombakkus (Roch- ester), " year by year," -- that is, for only one year at a time. Peace and prosperity soon followed in the train of his labors. That he was a man of high personal and minis- terial character is evident from the fact that he was ap- pointed by Governor Fletcher to take part in the induction of William Vesey as the first rector of Trinity Church, New York, which took place December, 1679, in the Re- formed Dutch church of Garden Street, now Exchange Place.
An incident showing the loyalty of Dominie Nucella and
his Consistory, and their abhorrence of treason, is on record in a resolution passed by them Sept. 29, 1700, that no child should ever be baptized by them by the name of Leisler or Mellbourne, because of the scandal it would occasion, these men having been excented for high treason.
After a very successful ministry of nine years Dominie Nucella resigned his position March 7, 1704, and went to London, it is said, to take charge of Queen Ann's Chapel.
Soon after the departure of Dominie Nucella, Lord Corn- bury sent to Kingston a Rev. Mr. Hepburn, a minister of the Established Church of England, "to preach and read divine service, in good hopes of bringing the Dutch to a conformity." Hle also endeavored to force upon them a chorister and schoolmaster, and ordered them to furnish Mr. Hepburn with a suitable house, and if no other could be obtained to take immediate possession of the house of Bodewyn De Witt, " which had escheated to her Majesty, and make speedy return of what they had done." But the Dutch, believing in the Presbyterian polity and in the Belgie Confession and the Articles of the Synod of Dort, were not easily swerved, and their motto was " Nolo Epis- copari." Mr. Hepburn soon became disheartened, and left for parts unknown.
This effort on the part of Lord Cornbury and Mr. Hep- burn to draw the Dutch from their allegiance to their Church and to the Classis of Amsterdam made the church more energetic and persistent in their efforts to obtain an- other pastor. Accordingly, in compliance with their re- quest the Classis of Amsterdam ordained Henricus Beys, a candidate, at Dordrecht, on the 4th of May, 1705. and commissioned him to become the pastor of the church at Esopus, He arrived in New York, Jan. 1, 1706, O. S. Lord Cornbury interposed various obstacles in the way of his going immediately to Kingston, so that he did not arrive at that place until the spring following. On the first Sab- bath after his arrival, March 17, 1706, he preached twice and baptized thirty-five children. The people were so we !! pleased with their new dominie that in a letter addressed to the Classis of Amsterdam they said " they thought him almost an angel sent of God." But their exalted expecta- tions were soon disappointed in consequence of his persist- ent and continued neglect of his duties. The disaffection and alienation became so great that he finally left Kingston, became an Episcopalian, and officiated at Harlem and Ford- ham. He was suspended from the ministry by the Classis of Amsterdam, but was afterwards restored and sent to Curagoa, where he preached from 1714 till 1717. The prosperity of the church was greatly retarded by the conduct of Mr. Beys.
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