History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II, Part 140

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 140

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Being able to give their minister but forty pounds a year for his support, the people agreed that he should have a hundred acres of land, fourteen of which, in the east field, were conveyed to him by the proprietors March 1, 1721, and the remainder was laid out for him at Cantito March 20, 1722. "The norwest corner by ye road to ye fishing falls,6 bounded by a red oak tree upon ye okl purehas line, etc., etc. * * * ye contents of we is 80 [acres]."} Other tracts adjoining this were subsequently allotted to him, until he seems to have had between two and three hundred aeres in that neighborhood. The writer has not been able to identify the exact location of this land.

It has been stated that Mr. Tennent and his family

sidering the relations of the partles a month before ; how It is acconuted for the writer Jeuves others to guess. The land seems to have been on Cherry Street, now the farm of Werden Fowler.

8 Baindl's History of Bedford Church.

4 The Presbytery of Philadelphia.

& Baird's History of Bedford Church.

" Doubtless the Indian fish welrs on Croton River, which still exist near Wool's Bridge.

¡ Bedford Records, Vol. II., pp. 73.

603

BEDFORD.

resided on this farm, but that is not clear. About the time of his removal from Bedford, as it is sup- posed, that is, in August, 1726, he sold these outlying lands, part to Isaac Quintard, of Stamford, and part to Theophilus Kellem and Hezekiah Roberts.1 On May 16, 1749, his " son and heir at law," Gilbert Ten- nent, " for the promoteing and support [of] the Gos- pel of Jesus Christ according to and under the pres- byterian disciplinc," gave to the trustees of the Presbyterian Church, " John Holmes & John Miller, Esqrs., Zebadiah Mills, Yeo"," several parcels of land, all apparently in the vicinity of Bedford vil- lage: "one house and home lot, containing by esti- mation about ten acres; two lots in the east field, containing by estimation 8 acre each," etc. It ap- pears to the writer that this house and home lot was more likely to be Mr. Tennent's residence than the Cantito farm.

" It is with no small satisfaction that I * * * establish the fact that Bedford was for so long a period the home and parish of William Tennent. 'The Presbyterian church,' says Dr. Alexander, 'is probably not more indebted for her prosperity, and for the evangelical spirit which has generally pervaded her body, to any individual than to the elder Tennent.' We cannot doubt that his preaching and holy living and the examples of piety furnished by his family, made an abiding impression upon this community."-Baird's History of Bedford Church.

Although the site for the meeting-house was selected by the committee at the time of the first division of the home lots, no building was erected for several years. At a town-meeting, October 15, 1689, "the town doth agree to build Mr. Abraham Ambler, senor, a frame fortye foots long and twenty-two foots wide, and to set it up fit for clabording and shingling, and to rais it up by the last of March to come after the date hereof, and the house above-mentioned is to be teen foots and a half between ioynts, aud this frame, above-mentioned, is to be set up upon the considera- tion that Mr. Abraham Ambler, senor, will come up as often as he can conveniantly to carry on the Lord's day amongst us one year yt he may scttle with us."2 The building stood near " the rock called Bates hill," where the Methodist Church now stands. How long it remained is not known. The second one stood at the upper end of the village, near where the blacksmith shop now is, at the foot of the hill.

It was destroyed when the village was burned by the British under Tarleton, July 2, 1779. The third edifice was erected after the Revolution,3 on the sum- mit of the hill, where it was a landmark well known throughout all the surrounding country until it was removed in 1879. The fourth and present church

stands on the parsonage property, facing "The Green," or old common. It was presented by Francis A. Palmer, a native of this town, and for many years past President of the National Broadway Bank, New York. It is Gothic in architecture, and is the hand- somest and best appointed church-building in this part of the county. It was dedicated August 15, 1872.

Following is a list of the ministers of Bedford Presbyterian Church :

Rev. Thomas Denham, 1684-89, died 1689.

Rev. Joseph Morgan, 1699-1702, died after 1740.

Rev. John Jones, 1702-5, died 1719.

Rev. William Tennent, 1720-27, died 1745.

Rev. Henry Baldwin, 1728, died before 1740.

Rev. Robert Sturgeon, 1732-43, died after 1750.

Rev. Samuel Sackett, 1743-53, died 1784.

Rev. Eliphalet Ball, 1754-68, died 1797.

Rev. Samuel Mills, 1769-86, died 1813.

Rev. John Davenport, 1786-91, died 1821.

Rev. Isaac Foster, 1792-94, died 1807.

Rev. Samnel Blatchford, 1795. died 1828.

Rev. Josiah Henderson, 1798-1803, died after 1822.

Rev. Ebenezer Grant, 1804-21, died 1821.

Rev. Jacob Green, 1822-48, died 1851.

Rev. David Inglis, 1848-52, died 1877.

Rev. David C. Lyon, 1851-57.

Rev. Peter B. Hleroy, 1857-78, died 1878.

Rev. James H. Hoyt, 1880.

THE MOUNT KISCO PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH was organized June 15, 1852. A few years before that (1847) the completion of the railroad to that point had caused the building up of a considerable village, where none existed before, and seventeen members of the Bedford Church, living in the western part of the town, were formed into a new church. The house of worship was soon built, and the growth of the organization was rapid. It is now nearly as strong in membership as the parent church. Its pulpit was, for a short time, supplied by ministers from other churches.

The ministers of Mount Kisco Presbyterian Church have been :

Rev. Andrew Shiland, installed June, 1854; resigned April, 1870.

Rev John Hancock, installed October, 1870; resigned September, 1876

Rev. John HI. Frazee, installed June, 1877 ; resigned November, 1879. Rev. James W. Johnson, installed June, 1880; resigned September, 1883.

Rev. Addison D. Madeira, installed November, 1884 ; present pastor.

THE KATONAH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH was or- ganized November 17, 1872. The Rev. John Han- cock, then the pastor of the Mount Kisco Church, and Mr. John J. Wood, one of the elders, were largely instrumental in its organization, and five of its orig- inal members came from that church. The present church edifice was completed early in 1875, the reg- ular services being held, up to that time, in a public hall at Katonah. The Rev. Mr. Hazleton, of the Presbyterian Church at North Salem, preached here for some time, holding services in his own church in the morning and at Katonah in the afternoon. In the spring of 1875 a call was given to the Rev. John H. Eastman, then just graduated from the Union

1 Bedford Records, Vol. II., pp. 105, 116.

2 " It is evident from the dimensions given in these specifications, that the house thus described conld not have been intended for a dwelling, and must have been the Meeting-Ilonse, the building of which had been nrged npon the settlers by Mr. Ambler, of Stamford."-Baird's History of Bedford Church.

3 It was probably built in the fall of 1783, as the deed for the site, pre- sented by Mr. Lewis McDonald, was dated Angust 6, 1783, and the annnal town-meeting was held in the new building, April 7, 1784.

604

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

Theological Seminary. He was installed in July, 1875, and is still the pastor of the church.

THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH in Bedford is the outgrowth of the Church of England sentiment which existed here very early in the history of the town. Slender enough at the beginning, it was care- fully fostered by the "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts,"1 one of whose earliest acts was to designate Rev. Alexander Stuart as "missionary at Bedford." The parish, however, con- sisted of Rye, Mamaroneck and Bedford, and the lat- ter not constituting a sufficient field, Mr. Stuart went elsewhere. The first indueted reetor of the parish was the Rev. Thomas Pritchard, who was sent here in 1704. Some of his difficulties in Bedford have been referred to elsewhere. His ministry lasted only for a year.2

The ministers of this three-fold parish were ap- pointed by the Propagation Society (which usually ratified the choice of the vestry) and were inducted by order of the Governor, down to the time of the Revolution. After the tragic death of Rev. Mr. Avery in 1776, there was no minister in the parish for ten years or more, owing to the troubled and unsettled times. In 1789, on April 19th, " the few members of the church who could be collected in the northern part of the county assembled and incorporated them- selves as 'The trustees of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the townships of Bedford and North Castle.' " 3

In 1796, shortly after the town of New Castle was formed from North Castle, a reorganization was effected as "The Protestant Episcopal Churen in the united towns of Bedford and New Castle, to continue by the regular name of St. George's Church." In 1803 the vestry, having received a part of the legacy of St. George Talbot, "decided to purchase from Lemuel Light the frame house and forty acres of land to be used as a residence and glebe for the minister. This is the property now held by St. Matthew's Church.

In 1807 the balance of the Talbot legacy being re- ceived, it was determined to build a church on the land already purchased. St. Matthew's was finished in 1809. The parish was aided in this work by a gift of five hundred dollars from Trinity Church, New York. Services at the old church at New Castle Corner, were now discontinued, and not long after, the building, having become dilapidated, was pulled down.' Of the ministers who served the parish

formed by uniting the New Castle and Bedford con- gregations, there is but scanty reeord, until 1804, when Rev. George Strebeck was called. He remained less than a year. Previous to this, there is some reason for believing that the parish was in care of Rev. Theodosius Bartow, for thirty years rector of Trinity Church, New Rochelle.

The following is a list of Episcopal ministers at Bedford.

MISSIONARIES OF THE GOSPEL PROPAGATION SOCIETY.

Date of call.

1704 Rev. Thomas Pritchard 1:05

Died.

1705 4 George Muirson . 1708

1709 4 Christopher Bridge 1719

1722 .

Robert Jenney .

1726 Resigned.

1726 = James Wetmore

. 1760

Died.

1763

Ebenezer Punderson . 1764

1765 . Ephraim Avery

. 1,76

RECTOR OF ST. GEORGE'S, OF BEDFORD AND NEW CASTLE. 1804 Rev. George Strebeck 1805 Resigned.

RECTORS OF ST. MATTHEW'S.

18/9 Rev. Nathan Felch , 1813 Resigned.

1814

George Weller. .1817

1818

Samuel Nichols 1839

. .

1839 Alfred 11. Partridge

1855

Edward B. Boggs

. 1866

1866

Lea Luqner . Present rector.

THE BAPTIST CHURCH .- The " Baptist Church of Christ in Bedford," as it is styled in the old records of the church, was organized in September, 1787, by seventeen members of the Stamford Baptist Church, 5 who were dismissed for the purpose, and who com- bined with themselves those of their religious opinion whom they found in this neighborhood. The date of incorporation is September 3, 1801. There are no records of the church until September 22, 1798. After that time they were kept in due form, though sometimes briefly. It is probable that previous to that date there was no settled pastor, or even weekly preaching. But about that time the church was built, and in December, 1799, it was voted "that this church keep up meetings at this house every Lord's day." The minutes for the next year or two contain references to Elder Jones, Elder Rand and Elder Wines, from which it is inferred that they preached here occasionally, but there was no regularly called pastor until January 1802, when Elder Ezra Foun- tain, previously known as Deacon Fountain, was called. He was received as pastor in May, 1802, and continued that relation till November, 1837. In September, 1823, however, he asked a letter of dismission to unite with the Baptist Church at Peekskill, which was granted in November. His name reappears in the minutes of monthly meetings in April, 1824, and in October it was voted "to give Elder Ezra Fountain a general invitation to a seat with this church," so that he seems to have resumed his relation and to have continued the pastor till his

1 Incorporated in London June 16, 1701, to send missionaries to the colonies.

2 " About a year after his settlement In Rye the Rev. Mr. Pritchard died, a fortnunte occurrence for the parish, for his conduct had not been such us to conciliate those who were unfriendly to his mission." Hev. Len Lugner, Centennial nddress, 1876.

" llis brief ministry ended deplorably In March or April of the next year."-Baird's " History of Bedford Church."

3 Rev. L. Laquer, Centennial address, Bedford, 1876.

4 St. Mark's of New Castle, erected in 1832, stands nearly ou the same site.

6 The Stamford Church was also the mother of the North Salem Bap- tist Church, now defunct, and the Sing Sing Baptist Church. The First

Baptist Church of New York City was also, in part, an offshoot from it.

605

BEDFORD.

resignation, in 1837.1 The membership in 1824 numbered one hundred and nine.

The church was repaired at considerable expense in 1837 and was in a good state of preservation in 1864, when it was removed to make room for the present more commodious edifice. The site is handsome one, a few rods south of St. Matthew's Church, in a triangular plot of somewhat less than anacre, liberally shaded with maples. These doubtless had their origin in a resolution passed at the monthly meeting in March, 1832, which appointed a committee " to purchase young trees of sugar maple, and set them about twenty feet apart, on the line of our ground, around our Meeting-House."

Of the ministers whose names are given below, some were engaged to supply the pulpit for short terms, and were not regularly called as pastors. The Rev. Elkanah Holmes, a Baptist minister who resided near by, is worthy of mention in connection with this church, as he frequently preached here during the ministry of Mr. Fountain. He was not, however, regularly in charge of the church.

MINISTERS OF BEDFORD BAPTIST CHURCHI.

Rev. Ezra Fountain, May, 1802, to November, 1837. Rev. David Bernard, December, 1837, to May, 1838. Rev. Charles 1I. Underhill, August, 1838, to April, 1840. Rev. Lemuel Covell, April, 1840, to October, 1841. Rev. - Bigelow, December, 1841, to February, 1842. Rev. Nathan A. Reed, March, 1842, to March, 1847. Rev. Farman Knowlton, April, 1847, to Jnne, 1847.

Rev. I. S. Gifford, July, 1847, to July, 1857.

Rev. E. T. Strickland, November, 1857, to November, 1858. Rev. J.,H. Parks, December, 1858, to June, 1862. Rev. Richard Harris, Angnst, 1862, to Angust, 1866. Rev. Conant Sawyer, D.D., Jnne, 1867, to 1875.

Rev. Joseph Burnett, November, 1875, to March, 1879.

Rev. W. H. Marshall, May, 1879, to June, 1881. Rev. J. F. Feitner, July, 1882, present pastor.

KATONAH METHODIST CHURCH .- Toward the close of the last century Peter Moriarty and his col- leagues, itinerant Methodist preachers of the New Rochelle Circuit, began to hold occasional meetings in Cherry Street, Whitlockville, and other neighbor- hoods in the northern part of the town. As Method. ism prospered in the county and preaching-stations became more numerous, these meetings came suc- cessively under the care of other circuits established in the northern part of the county-the Croton Cir- cuit shortly after 1800, the Mount Pleasant Circuit in 1826, and the Bedford Circuit in 1833. The ministers in charge of this circuit in 1833 were Henry Hatfield and Denton Keeler.

In the summer of 1836 a school-house was built

in Whitlockville, and in November of that year the Methodists of the neighborhood began to hold Thurs- day evening prayer-meetings in it. "This was the be- ginning of 'The Great Revival,' as it was called, and it deserved the name, for it was probably the greatest religious revival, everything considered, the place has ever known. . The whole region was deeply moved, and more than one hundred and fifty professed conversion, the larger part of whom joined the Methodist Episcopal Church."2 In the spring of 1837 the question of building a church was seriously discussed, and an organization effected. The house was built during the summer and fall, and was dedi -- cated December 2, 1837, by Rev. Francis Hodgson, of New York.

Whitlockville continued to be a part of the Bedford Circuit until 1857, when it was, in connection with Cross River, made a separate charge. In 1865 it was made a station, with a minister appointed to it alone. In 1872 the name was changed from Whitlockville to Katonalı, that having become the name of the post- office several years before.

About that time the necessity for a new church edi- fice began to be apparent, and following the change of name and the changed location of the village, a new site was chosen near the station, and the present church erected in 1874. The contributions of the congregation were liberal, and the building is large, handsome and convenient. It was dedicated January 21, 1875.

The old church was occupied for the last time Sun- day evening, January 17, 1875. The building, with the land on which it stands, was a few years afterward sold to the American Lens Company, whose works are near by.

The following is a list of the ministers appointed to this church after it was set off from the Bedford Circuit, in 1857:

WILITLOCKVILLE AND CROSS RIVER.

1857-58

A. Hunt.

1859-60. Thomas Edwards.

1861-62. A. C. Gallahne.

1863-64 J. Z. Nichols.

WHITLOCKVILLE.

1865-66 E. B. Otheman.

1867-68

J. C. Iloyt.

1869-71 . W. M. Chipp.

KATONAII.

1872-74 .

. Thomas La Monte.

1875-77 . Edinund Lewis.

1878-80 . Philip Germond.

1881-83 . . Richard Wheatley.

1881-85 .

W. S. Winans, Jr.

BEDFORD AND CHESTNUT RIDGE METHODIST EPIS- COPAL CHURCHES .- In 1806, chiefly through the in- strumentality of James Fountain,3 an ardent and able

1 During a part of this time he preached the third Sunday of each month at Yorktown. He died in 1840, and was buried on his farm, which was afterward bonght by John A. Miller and is now owned by Samuel Hoyt. His remains have been removed to Buxton Cemetery, and the tombstone bears the inscription, written by himself,-

" A dying preacher I have been

To dying sinners such as yon ;

A dying preacher I remain

To all who come my grave to view."

ii .- 53

2 Rev. Thomas La Monte, Historical Sketch of Katonah Methodist Episcopal Church, August, 1878.

3 He was a brother of Ezra Fountain, for thirty-five years minister of the Bedford Baptist Church. IIis home was where Benjamin B. Sarles now lives.

606

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

Methodist exhorter, a church of that denomination was built at the "Four Corners," two miles west of Bed- ford, on the road to New Castle. It was known as the Bedford Methodist Church, and for several years doubt- less belonged to the New Rochelle Circuit. In 1826 the Mount Pleasant Circuit was formed and included this church, and in 1833 the Bedford Circuit was set off. The appointments on the Bedford Circuit for that year, and the amounts assessed to them for the finances of the circuit, were as follows:

Round Hill $68.28

North Castle 39.70

Drake Waterbury's 13.87

John Waterbury's 14.37

New Castle 77.82

Middle Patent 82.17

Bedford 34.84

S. Moseman's 21.50

Cherry Street 44.68

Chestnut Ridge . 48.91

To be raised by quarterly collections . 58.34

It would appear from this table that the class, or organization, at Chestnut Ridge, two or three miles to the southwest, was stronger in membership than the one at the Four Corners. In 1837 the church edifice was removed to Bedford village and erected at the west of the old burying-ground, where the first meet- ing-house of the settlers stood, at the foot of the "rock called Bates his hill." Again the most of the work was done by James Fountain. The Chestnut Ridge people were disposed to complain on account of the increased distance to the church in its new situation, and set plans on foot for having one of their own. This was accomplished after a few years, and in 1846 the present house in Chestnut Ridge was built. It was dedicated on July 19th of that year. Bedford and Chestnut Ridge (together with Middle Patent) be- came a separate pastoral charge in 1856, being set off from the Bedford Cireuit, which was probably divided up about that time. The preachers to the united charge since that time have been,-

1856. William Stevens.

1857-58

John W. Jones.

1859-60 .

, Ira Ferris.

1861-62. George Daniel.

1863-64-65

N. S. Tuthill.

1×66-67-68

J. 11. Champion.

1869-70-71

. J. ll. llawkshurst.

1872-73-74

Edmund Lewis.

1873-76. William Blake.

1877-78-79

J. M. Burger.

1880-81-82 R. MI. Roberts.

1883-84-85

E. Il. W. Barden.

BEDFORD STATION METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCHI .- The Methodist Church at Bedford Station was organized early in 1884, and in the spring of that year Rev. W. H. Bowne was appointed its first pastor. He was succeeded in April, 1885, by Rev. D. W. B. Thompson. The present house of worship is the one built in 1858 as a union chapel, and occupied by the Presbyterian, Baptist and Methodist ministers of the vicinity by turns, since that time, for regular services on Sunday afternoons. This union service has now

been discontinued. It is expected that a new church edifice will soon be erected.

ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCHIES .- The parish of St. Francis was established about 1871. It had previously been a mission attached to the parish at Sing Sing. Father M. C. Brennan was its first pastor. He built a large and handsome reetory near the church. He remained about three years and was succeeded by Rev. John Henry. During his pastorate the church at Pleasantville, which is a part of this parish, was erected. After a stay of two years he was followed by the present rector, Rev. M. W. Newman, who came from Rondout, N. Y. He paid off' the debt of the Mount Kisco Church, and, in 1883, built a church at Bedford village, being considerably aided in that work by members of other churches in the neighbor- hood. The congregations of the three churches num- ber about twelve hundred.

FRIENDS' MEETING-HOUSE .- Croton Valley Mect- ing of Friends was established in 1806. The meet- ing-house stood near the Croton River, a little below the mouth of the Kisco. When the Croton Lake was raised for New York City's water supply, the house was moved upon the adjoining land, belonging to Henry Sutton. After the separation in 1829, because of differences in doctrinal views, the Hicksite branch retained the house and the Orthodox held their relig- ious services in the house of Moses Sutton until 1845, when the present honse 1 near Croton Lake was built. The Hieksite Meeting was afterward discontinued. Another meeting was organized by them at the village of Mount Kisco, about the year 1856, and a meeting- house erected there. This meeting still continues.

BETHANY UNION CHAPEL .- In the year 1879 the old Presbyterian Church, which had not been used since the dedication of the one presented to the society by F. A. Palmer, was removed about two miles from Bedford to a site near the farm of Mr. Palmer. . 1 Union Sunday-school is held regularly, and preaching when opportunity offers.

Francis A. Palmer, widely known in business eir- eles in New York City as president of the National Broadway Bank, was born in the town of Bedford, Westchester Co., Nov. 26, 1812. He removed to New York City, Nov., 1831, where he entered into business.

In 1849 he organized the Broadway Bank, which has grown under his management to be one of the strongest banking institutions in New York City. The efficiency and care with which he has guarded its in- terests through many depressing periods in the finan- cial history of the city give Mr. Palmer just claim to rank among the able financiers of the time. He is well known in the business and social circles of Westchester County.

SCHOOLS .- From 1680 to 1813 there is no mention of schools in the town records. The early settlers re- garded it as proper to support the church at the pub-

1 This meeting-house Is in New Castle, near the Bedford Ilne.

607

BEDFORD.

lic expense, but not to provide for the education of the children. Most of the pioneers were men of fair attainments for their rank in life, but some of them were obliged to make their mark when signing their deeds, and a still larger proportion in the next gener- ation did the same. In later years, however, the town gave evidence of the intelligence and enterprise of her citizens by its attention to public education. "Dr. Dwight, in 1813, made exception in favor of Bedford and two other localities when he says of Westchester County-' Neither Learning or Religion has, within my knowledge, flourishicd to any great extent among the inhabitants.' " 1

The Bedford Academy was one of the first institu- tions chartered by the regents of the university after their incorporation (in 1784), but it is not now subject to their supervision. On January 19, 1807, the Pres- byterian Society of Bedford gave the lot " fifty fect in front, and one hundred feet in rear, of the west cor- ner of the parsonage meadow, fronting the green and adjoining Coll. Holly's garden, for the express purpose of building an academy thereon, and to be used for no other purpose whatever." Rev. Ebenezer Grant, then pastor of the Presbyterian Church, was the first president of its board of proprietors, and its first principal was the Rev. Daniel Crocker. Gov- ernor Jay was one of the original subscribers. It has been, at different times in its history, a large and flourishing school, and " many of its pupils have at- tained distinction as professional and business men." Among its successful principals have been H. S. Banks, S. L. Holmes, Albert Williamson, James W. Husted, D. S. Dusinberre, George H. Sutton and J. F. Williams.

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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 140

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