History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II, Part 14

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898,
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co.
Number of Pages: 1286

USA > New York > Westchester County > History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II > Part 14

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OLD ST. JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH AS BUILT IN 1752.

operation till 1683, the year in which Westchester County was erected. Included within this code were provisions to meet the religious wants of the people. Under these provisions, the English Church did more or less missionary work within our county. But no formal step was taken toward parish definition in the conuty till 1693. Ou the 24th of March in that year, the Colonial Legislature divided the county into the two parishes of Westchester and Rye, the former "to have the care of Westeliester, Eastchester, Yonkers and the Manor of Pelham," aud the latter " the care of Rye, Mamaroneck and Bedford." In each of these parislies, a parent church was at once forured. That of the Westchester parish was plauted iu the village of Westchester ou the east side of the county, and was called St. Peter's. To the parish of St. Peter's, Youkers was missionary ground till the year 1787, when on the 15th of September, 1784, the church was

YONKERS.

through the liberality of the Philipse family. The congregation has worshipped from the beginning of second lord Philipse, taking possession of his manor its history to the present time. here about 1719, cherished with liberality till his The site of the original glebe is now centrally re- presented by the combined areas of St. John's and Oakland Cemeteries, elsewhere described in this work. The smaller cemetery, still called St. Jolin's, is a de- velopment from the carly, simple church burial ground. The site of the rectory and its out-buildings was near the Saw-Mill River Road. The rectory stood within the spot now occupied by the pretty grove of trees near the road and directly opposite the large carpet factory of Alexander Smith & Sons. death in 1751, the missionary work of the parish of Westchester carried on between the Hudson and the Bronx. In his will, dated June 6, 1751, less than two months before he died, he devised in trust to his heirs a farm with residence and outbuildings for the use of ministers who might be called to labor here in the service of the Church of England, and directed that his executors should expend £400 from the ren- tals of his manor, in erecting on the farm a church building for the use of the people. The third lord, From the setting apart of the globe till 1845, the church rectors lived upon it. At that time it was sold, of course for an amount which would now be deemed trifling, and with the proceeds of the sale the known as Colonel Philipsc, carried out the will of his father so far as to set apart the farm devised for the use of the ministers, but with wise forecast himself donated, for the church building, the central and far more convenient site which St. John's Church has always occupied. This latter plot was origi- mally somewhat larger than it now is. Its lines on Broadway and Hudson Streets remain unchanged. But it has been much reduced on the west by the opening of Riverdale Avenue, and somewhat increased on the north- west by the purchase of the lots on the southeast corner of Riverdale Avenue and Main Street. The first church building was erected in 1752- 53.

All of that building that was com- bustible was burned in May, 1791, but was restored in the next year iu its precise original outward form. It was consecrated on the 1st of August of the same year, by Right Rev. Sam- uel Provoost, D.D., first bishop of the State of New York. On the day of its consecration it first received the name of St. John's Church. At the rebuilding the interior was slightly EM modified. And as we have elsewhere stated, the steeple was rebuilt in 1804, by Mr. Ebenezer Baldwin, then of Norwich, Conn. But many more years passed away before ne- cessity arose for the building's enlargement. In 1849 transepts were added and other and considerable im- provements were made to meet the needs and tastes of a suddenly aud rapidly incoming population. Later still, in 1870, the old building was nearly all demolished and the present elegant church was erect- ed. The attachment of the people to their liistoric edifice, however, led them to retain and work into the new structure the old south wall, which still stands as it was put up in 1752, and shows the door by which the first church was originally entered. The views we furnish with this narrative give to our readers tlie appearance of eaeli of the houses in which St. John's

ST. JOHN'S RECTORY AND GLEBE ON SAW MILL RIVER ROAD IN 1809.

present rectory within the church grounds was built. The only land now owned by St. John's Church is St. John's Cemetery and the square on which their church rectory and Sunday-school building stand. The Sunday-school building grew out of the later needs of the church. It was erected about 1860 and has proved a valuable accession to the facilities of the people for parish and church work.

At the period of the confiscation of the Manor of Philipsburgh (1785), special legislative action became necessary for the preservation to this church of the real estate it had received from the Philipse family. By two acts, respectively in 1786 and 1792, the New York Legislature first conveyed and then confirmed the property to it for ever. We have shown that the

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

land on the Saw-Mill River Road is set down in the proceedings of the time as consisting of one hundred and seven acres. It has been stated at two hundred and even at two hundred and fifty in various papers, but we think it was never more than one hundred and sevenl.

Down to 1828, St. John's was the only church on the west or Hudson River side of the town. Yonkers families, of whatever antecedents, worshipped in it. Its rectors officiated at all the funerals, performed all the marriage ceremonies and administered all the baptisms. Of course, therefore, among St. John's Church families have been many who have repre- sented great solidity and strength, and several which, like the Philipse family, are now historic. Tradi- tions of much interest are connected with the church. Its history, down to 1855, with many original docu- ments of interest, is given with much fulness by Rev. Robert Bolton in his "Church in Westchester Coun- ty," and the reader is referred to this for infor- mation beyond what we have given. We must not

omit, however, to state that Yonkers remained mis- sionary ground and part of the parish of Westchester for many years after the church was built in 1752. It was not erected into an independent parish till 1787. Consequently ministers who labored here before that date were not in the true sense rectors of this church, but simply missionaries. Nor must it be for- gotten that the name St. John's does not go back of August 1st, 1792, the day of the consecration of the church rebuilt after the fire. We have quite a clear record of all ministers who ever officiated here either as missionaries or rectors

1. Before the erection of the church in 1752-1753. It is stated by Rev. Mr. Bolton (Church in West- chester County, p. 486) that a Rev. Warham Mather labored a short time on this ground. But the first minister of whom we have definite account was the Rev. John Bartow, and the next was the Rev. Thomas Standard. Both these were rectors of St. Peter's, the Westchester or parent church, and Yonkers was to them simply missionary ground. The former be- came rector of St. Peter's in 1702, and died in 1725 or 1726, and the latter was inducted in 1725 or 1726, and died in 1759 or 1760. It was during Mr. Stand- ard's rectorship of St. Peter's, and missionary work here, that the first Yonkers church building was erected.

2. Between the crection of the church and the setting off of the Yonkers parish in 1787, the following min- isters did work here.

Rev. John Milner, third rector of St. Peter's. In- dueted in 1761, and resigned in 1765.

Rev. Harry Munro. Not a rector of St. Peter's, but set apart by the "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel " as a special missionary for the precinct of Yonkers, at that time still in the parish of West- chester. Received his license as a missionary in 1764, and resigned the charge of this precinct in 1768.

Rev. Luke Babcock. Another missionary set apart to this precinct by the same Society. Received his license in 1770, and died in the rectory here Feb. 10, 1777 in the thirty-ninth year of his age. A tablet to his memory, set in the wall of the church, gives the date of his birth as July 6, 1738, and calls him a " recter of this church." But the church at the time was a mission only.

Rev. George Panton. Another missionary ap- pointed in 1777. Resigned in 1782. The period of Mr. Panton was that of the Revolutionary War. The difficulties in the way of the mission during this period were very great, and after the withdrawal of this missionary no further effort was made to supply his place till 1789 or 1790. Meanwhile, in 1787, the Yonkers precinct of the parish of Westchester was itself erected into an independent parish. Andrew Fowler, at the time a lay reader, but afterwards a minister, labored on this ground in 1786 after Mr. Panton had left, but under no church appointment as far as is now known.

3. Since the independent parish of Yonkers was erected, the church has had rectors as follows :

Rev. Elias Cooper,' born in Holland Jan. 5. 1758. Ordained deacon June 21, 1789. He had begun to labor in Yonkers in 1788 and was ordained priest June 11, 1790. Mr. Cooper was the first real "rector" of the Yonkers church, which received the name St. Jolin's about three years after his settlement. He remained in the rectorship twenty-seven years, dying in it on the 16th of January 1816, aged 58 years and 11 months. The church contains a wall tablet to his memory. Mr. Cooper organized and taught a school during his pastorate. His school house is shown in our drawing of the rectory and glebe as they were in 1809. It stands immediately south of the rectory. He was really the originator of St. John's Church at Tuckahoe, which has had a church building from 1798. We shall speak of this further on.

Rev. William Powell .- Became rector in 1816. Resigned the rectorship Aug. 10. 1819.

Rev. John Grigg .- Rector from 1820-1823. Re- signed.

Rev. John West .- Rector from 1823-1828. Re- signed.

1 llolton (Church in Westchester C'o., pp. 513 and 516) is in a difficulty over the history of Rev. Mr. Cooper, which we can relieve. He was, as he stales, a son of the Rev. Warmoldus Kuypers. The latter however was nol a Lutheran, but a Reformed (Dutch) minister, and he was born, not in Germany, as The writer (p. 516) is " Inclined lo believe, " Imit in Holland. The year of his birth was 1732, and he served in the ministry of The Reformed (Dutch) Church in this country at least from 176g lill his death in 1797. Ile preached at Schraalenburgh in Bergen Co. and it is enid that his son Elins con Id, as he entered the door of his Yonkers church on a Sabbath, some times hear his father's church bell across the river. lle had at least three sons besides Elias who became ministers minl all served in The Reformed Church in this country, viz., Rev, Cerrar- Jus Arense Kuypers, b, nt Curaçon in 1766 ; Rev. Zechariah 11. Kuypers, b. al Rhinebeck, N. Y., in 171 ; and Rey, William Provost Kuypers, b. nt Hackensack, N. J., In 177, isee the invaluable " Manual of the Keformed Church In America, " by Rev. E. Tanjore Corwin, I. D. Third Edition.)

YONKERS.

Rev. Alexander H. Crosby .- Became rector in 1828, and served eleven years, dying in thlic rectorship Jan. 4. 1839, at 35 years of age. The chureli con- tains a wall tablet to his memory. He is remembered by many still in the congregation. Indeed he is still represented in it by his own descendants.

Rev. Smithi Pyne .- Rector from 1839-1840. Re- signed.

Rev. Henry Lemuel Storrs .- Born July 1. 1811. Became reetor in 1841 and served eleven years, dying in the rectorship May 16, 1852. The church contains a wall tablet to his memory. During his period St. John's at Tuckahoe, which had before ranked as a chapel only, was consecrated. The new reetory with- in the church grounds was also built, and the enlarge- ment of the church by the addition of transepts took place.

Rev. Abraham Beach Carter, D.D .- Became rector June 12, 1852, and served about sixteen and a half years, resigning December 1868. He left Yonkers for New York City, where he labored for several years. He is now reetor of St. John's, Dubuque, Iowa.

Rev. Thomas A. Jaggar, D.D .- Became reetor in 1869, and resigned in 1870 to assume a rectorship in Philadelphia. He has been now for many years Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church for the Southern Diocese of Ohio.

Rev. William S. Langford, D.D .- Became rector in 1870, and resigned in July 1875, to take the charge of St. John's, Elizabeth, N. J. He now lives in New York City and is General Secretary of Domestic and Foreign Missions in the Episcopal Church.

Rev. Addison B. Atkins, D.D .- Reetor from Dee. 1, 1875 to May 1879. Resigned. Is now reetor at Conshohocken, Pa.

Rev. James Haughton, now in charge. Became reetor Oct. 1, 1879. Was born in Boston, educated at Harvard College, in Andover Theological Seminary, and at Erlangen, Germany. Was ten years missionary in Exeter and in Hanover, N. H., and three years Dean of All Saints' Cathedral in Albany, N. Y., before coming to Yonkers. Besides accomplishing excellent pulpit and pastoral work, Mr. Haughton has been successful in reducing a church debt of $60,000 to $49,000, and also in bringing down the in- terest on what remains, so that its burden is less felt by the people. The officers of this ehureh are :

Wardens, Silvanus Mayo, Walter H. Paddock.

Vestrymen, William F. Cochran, William F. Law- renee, Edgar Logan, Stephen H. Thayer. John Pen- treath, William M. Morgan, Frederick Von Storch, William H. Fisher.

The prominent membership of St. John's church is effectively organized for various forms of parish and outside work. Among the institutions of Yonk- ers is St. John's Riverside Hospital. This has en- listed the sympathy and eare of St. John's people. But they are always doing a large amount of good in 'lows :

less observed ways, through their teaching force and their charities. They have done much for the Ger- man population, though perhaps much of their work in this direction, if not all of it, has now been given over to Christ Church and its rector, Rev. Mr. UI- mann, a native German, who has been till recently, assistant minister of St. John's, and has for a long time done the German work. And finally, the ladies of St. John's have been very active among the poor and the children, thus helping to meet a pervading need of the city, which ealls for all the resources of all its

RECTORY.

ST. JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH AND RECTORY, 1886.

churches and societies, and of its appropriate public funds besides for its supply.

THE OTHER CHURCHES AND THE MISSIONS .- Having given so full an account of the oldest church in the city, we shall now follow with the histories of the other churches, all but two of which originated within the present century. We first give a list of them in the order of their dates of organization, without reference to denominations, and then treat them under the headings of their various denomina- tions, arranging these respectively in the order of their oldest churches.

The list of the churches younger than St. John's, on Broadway, in order of their organization, is as fol-

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

First Methodist Episcopal of Yonkers (at Tuckahoe) . . . 1797

St. John's Episcopal (at Tuckahoe) not a parish till 1853, but its

house built in . . 1798

1828

Methodist Episcopal, on North Broadway .1843 Reformed, on South Broadway . .1818

St. Mary's Roman Cotholic, on St. Mary Street . .

Warburton Avenue Baptist, formerly Mount Olivet Baptist 1852

. 1849

First Presbyterian, ou North Broadway 1858 Westminster Presbyterian, on Warburton Avenue

St. Paul's Episcopal, on North Broadway 1858

Ilope Unitarian, on North Broadway 1×58

C'entral Methodist Episcopal, on IIndson Street .1870

African Methodist Episcopal Zion, on New Main Street . 1871

St. Joseph's Roman Catholic, on St. Joseph Avenue . 1871

Arranged in the order of their oldest churches, the denominations are represented in the city as follows :

1. THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL. First Methodist Episcopal of Yonkers (at Tuckahoe) .- In the chrono- logical list of the individual churches furnished above, we have given this church as dating from 1797. It is right, however, to preface its history with a prelimi- nary statement given to us by Rev. William E. Ketcham, late pastor of the Methodist Church on Broadway (See next article). Having studied records carefully, he writes :

ONYGACHE GO

BISHOP FRANCIS ASBURY, OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

Christ l'rotestant Episcopal, on Nepperhan Avenue .1872

St. John's German Evangelical Lutheran, on Hudson Street.

. 1873

Messiah Baptist (Colored), on North Broadway

1874

Dayspring Presbyterian, Walnut Street and Oliver Avenue 1879

German Methodist Episcopal, New Main Street. . 1880

Besides these, there are three chapels and a mission, of which the Nepperhan Avenue Baptist Chapel and the Ludlow St. Reformed Chapel will be considered with their churches, and the Wood Hill Union Chapel and the Mile Square Union Sunday-school, not con- nected with churches, will be considered separately.

" The time of the introduction of Methodism into Yonkers cannot be definitely stated. The Rev. Francis Asbury preached in Tuckahoe, however, and a Methodist society was formed there in 1771, the same year in which Methodism was introduced into New Rochelle by Rev. Joseph Pilmoor, one of Rev. John Wesley's missionaries. In 1773, Mr. Peter Bonnett was active in seenring preaching places, and had opened his own house for the Methodists. After his death, the widow Sherwood's house became the

YONKERS.

preaching place. It stood on the site of the present residence of Mr. Charles R. Dusenberry. In July, 1797, Bishop Asbury writes,-' I met the society at the substitute house (the widow Sherwood's). *

* * Thus, after twenty-six years since this society was formed, they are about to build a place for the wor- ship and the word of God.' That church (Tuckahoe) was dedicated Christmas Day, 1797, by Bishop Asbury. He being too feeble to walk, was carried in a chair from Mrs. Sherwood's to the church, and performed the ceremony seated in a chair."

To this introduetory statement, we are able to add the following information from the venerable Stephen Barker, a prominent officer of that church, who has been so long identified with it as to know its history thoroughly.

In 1797 Bishop As- bury was providen- tially compelled to stop at the house of Bishop Sherwood, who lived where Mr. Jacob Merritt now lives, near the pre- sent ehureh. Bishop Sherwood's mother was one of the first Methodists of the Tuekahoe region. Her sons, Moses, Bishop and Jonathan were all Methodists and among the foun- ders of the ehurel soon afterward built. There was preach- ing in her house by the Rev. Barnabas Matthias during Bishop Asbury's stay at Bishop Sherwood's in 1797. The Tuekahoe Church was organized imme- diately afterwards. Moses Sherwood at onee deeded ground for a church for the consideration of twenty-five dollars, and the house was promptly ereeted. Rev. Mr. Keteham has told us above that it was dedieated on Christmas Day, 1797, and has given a very touching eireumstanee that marked the oeeasion. The church was really organized at the time, but was never legally incorporated till February 13, 1855. The deed for the ground and the papers of incorporation are still in hand. The church, from its inception in 1797, ealled itself "The First Methodist Episcopal Church of Yonkers," and this name is embodied in the legal papers named. 1

The first Trustees were elected December 25, 1890, as the minutes show. They were-First Class, Lewis Dubois and Henry Cronck,-Second Class, Jonathan Sherwood and Bishop Sherwood,-Third Class, Aaron Lawrence and Jabez Fowler. There is no further minute on the book till December 25, 1818, when the eleetion is recorded of Peter Underhill and Jonathan Sherwood as Trustees to fill vacancies. From this date the minutes have been preserved.

The relations of this church and of Methodist Churches hereabout till 1858, are made clear by Rev. Mr. Keteham in our later article from him upon his I own ehureh. It was with what was called the New Rochelle circuit from 1798 to 1825. Then from 1826 to 1852, it was with a eireuit which from 1826 to 1836 bore the name of the Kingsbridge Circuit, and from 1836 to 1852 the name of the Yonkers Cireuit. Between the last two dates, the ehurehes of Kings- bridge (or Mosholu), Yonkers (on Broad- way) and Tuekahoe were joined together, but between 1853 and 1858 Yonkers was droppe 1 from this connection, and Mos- holu and Tuekahoe were left by theni- selves. In 1858 Tuck- ahoe was made a sep- arate station. From that date, the preach- ers for Tuekahoe till 1867, when the pre- sent church edifice was built, were :

REV. HENRY BOEHM.

Rev. Nathaniel Mead, 1858-59; Rev. W. H. Evans, 1859-60; Rev. A. M. Hough, 1860-62; Rev. Aaron K. Sandford, 1862-64; Rev. Erastus L. Prentice,

Methodist Episcopal Church " (vol. ii. p. 60, edition 1839), is here given to explain the cause of Bishop Asbury's tarry with Mr. Bishop Sher- wood, in 1797. From the valley of the Cumberland (where he had ex- hausted himself with overwork) he was on his way northward to attend a conference at Wilbraham, Mass. On the way he was seized with a fever. The passage says : "The fever increasing, he was obliged to stop at Tuckahoe, at the house of Bishop Sherwood, where he was treated with great kindness. While there, he makes the following reflections : 'The kindness of the Sherwood family is great, . . If I had not been at home here, what additional distress of mind would have attended me ! My friends, also, were welcome to come and see me on the Sabbath Day, at the widow Sherwood's. I had the pleasure of hearing our dear brother Matthias make a pointed, profitable, and powerful discourse, It is now eight weeks since I have preached.' "

1 The following interesting extract from "Bangs' History of the

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

1864-67. From 1828 to 1858, the preachers had been mostly the same to be mentioned with the next arti- ele, the church being in connections as above noted.

Rev. Mr. Prentice (the last named of these minis- ters) brought about the building of the present marble church. The property is considered worth about twenty thousand dollars. The cost of it to the con- gregation, however, was comparatively light, as the marble was given in a neighboring quarry, and the people made their contributions largely in labor and work. And yet it is a very valuable possession. It drew from Bishop Edmund S. Janes, at its dedication, the exclamation, " It is a beauty." The corner stone had been laid by him in September, 1866, and he also dedicated the house on the 20th of February, 1867. At the laying of the corner stone, Father Henry Boehm, who had been one of the former travelling companions of Bishop Asbury, was present, being at the time ninety years of age. He lived on, after this, to reaeli more than a hundred years.

The preachers from the date of dedieation have been : Rev. Gideon Draper, D.D., Rev. S. M. Vernon, Rev. John W. Aekerly, Rev. Oscar Haviland, Rev. Benjamin N. Lewis, Rev. George W. Terbuslı, Rev. John W. Selleek, Rev. Frank Bottome, D.D.

The present pastor is the Rev. David MeCartney, who is serving the church with great acceptanec. The church has a parsonage near the Rail Road Station, built by the Rev. Nathaniel Mead in 1858.

The Sunday School numbers about seventy pupils and seventeen officers and teachers. The Superin- tendent is Isaac V. Underhill.

The church has about eighty members. The pres- ent officers are :

Trustees : Nathaniel Reynolds, Isaac V. Underhill, James S. Young, Caleb F. Underhill (President), George Ferris, Elisha Patriek and Stephen Barker.

Stewards : Frank De Grate, Charles A. Hodgman, Nathaniel Reynolds, Caleb F. Underhill, Isaac V. Underhill, James S. Young and Stephen Barker.

The money collected during the last reported year for all objeets was seventeen hundred dollars, of which one thousand dollars was paid to the pastor, three hundred dollars to Missions, Domestie and For- eign, thirty-five dollars to the Presiding Elder, eighty- six dollars to superannuated preachers, thirty dollars to the poor, and the rest to church institutions and current expenses.

The oldest stone in the grave-yard bears the date 1800. The yard has been the burying-ground of the surrounding country. The Sherwood and many other families are buried in it. It is now almost filled with graves.

Methodist Episcopal, on North Broadway, at the cor- ner of Ashburton Avenue. This church is, in the or- der of time, the second Methodist Episcopal Church founded within the limits of the present city of You- kers. Our history of it is mostly from its late pastor, the Rev. Wm. E. Ketcham. It has been

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History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II, Part 14

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898, Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co. Number of Pages: 1286

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898,
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co.
Number of Pages: 1286