History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II, Part 145

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 145

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

There is, in the office of the state engineer, a map of the town of New Castle, by William Adams, 1without date, but known to have been made about 1797. The roads about New Castle Corner appear substantially as now. There was a grist-mill where it is now, and a saw-mill just above the site of the optical factory. Croft's tavern occupies the site of the house of the late M. W. Fish. Where the village of Mount Kisco

Adams was supervisor of Mount Pleasant about this time.

024

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

now flourishes there are no houses ; the map shows a swamp. The road leading up from Wampus Pond is described as the "road to New Castle Church," and the surveyor has made it as straight as possible. Some of the names of the inhabitants are given, among them Green, Underhill, Haight, Brady, Carpenter, Hall, Wright and Diekinson.

Chappaqua1 is the name of the Harlem Railroad station, four miles south of Mount Kiseo. The name was formerly applied to the neighborhood a mile west of the station, where the two meeting-houses of the Friends were, and where the Chappaqua Mountain Institute now is, and was of Indian origin. The "Chappaqua Hills" is the name given to a rocky ridge west of the valley in which the Harlem Railroad runs. A thrifty village has now grown up about the station. There are two places of worship-the Union Chapel and that of the Orthodox branch of the Friends-a hotel, about twenty places of business and the shoe-factory, which is mentioned elsewhere.

The chief historieal interest which attaches to Chappaqna is that it was for twenty years the residence and home of Horace Greeley. Always an enthusiast in matters pertaining to agriculture, and finding himself at the age of forty wearied with a busy life, in 1851 he bought about seventy-five acres of land near the station and built a modest cottage. Here he spent his Saturdays and other occasional days that he could spare, and greatly enjoyed the reereation and diversion which his farm afforded him.2 Here also he put in praetice his ideas respecting " high farming." He drained the swamp lying along the railroad, just below the station, laying tile at great expense, and had the satisfaction of seeing it trans- formed from a wilderness into a fertile meadow. His published accounts of his success with this part of his farm have made the "Greeley Swamp" famous. His greatest delight was to spend his days in trimming with a sharp, new axe, the rank growth of his shade- trees. His experiments in farming, his purchases of expensive fertilizers, his extravagant outlay of labor and material, were watched by his praetieal neigh- bors, and were met with mueh gentle ridicule. But profit was not his objeet; the visible improvement amply compensated him.

" Looking down over the reclaimed swamp, all bright now with War- ing flax, he said one day, 'all else that I have done may be of no avail ;

but what is done here is done; it will last.' The npland has been prepared for irrigation, the water being supplied by a brook which tumbled down the hill through a deep gleu. Its course was arrested by a dam, and, from the reservoir thus formed, pipes are laid to the dif- ferent fields, which can be inundated by the turuing of a cock. The ex - periment of irrigation, however, has been suspended. The brook, swollen with rage at the loss of its ancient liberty, bnrst through the lam 3 and scattered four thousand dollars' worth of solid masonry in the space of a minute and a half. A new attempt will be made to re- duce it to submission, and conduct its waters in peaceful aud fertilizing rivulets down the rows of corn aud potatoes.' "+

The farm is now owned by Miss Gabrielle Greeley, only surviving child of Mr. Greeley. While Mr. Greeley's residence was in the town of New Castle, the polling-place of the election distriet was at Sarles' Corners, some four miles distant. It was his custom always to vote, both at general and local elections, and it was usual for him to spend the whole day at the polls when the election was important, discussing publie questions with those who would gather about him for the purpose. His relations with his neighbors here were of the pleasantest nature, and the days that he spent at Chappaqua were doubt- less the happiest of his busy life.

Sarles' Corners was long the name of a small hamlet on the Sing Sing and Somerstown turnpike, a little west of the centre of the town, and about four miles from Sing Sing. For many years the town meetings were held here, and it is still one of the polling-places. There is a large hotel built of gran- ite, which is abundant in the neighborhood. The quarry from which the stone for the Croton Dam was obtained is near by. The place of late years has been called Merritt's Corners, and has given its name to the station on the New York and Northern Rail- road, a short distance to the east. There are at the station two or three places of business.

SCHOOLS .- At a meeting held September 26, 1814, the town voted to comply with the aet of the Legisla- ture providing for a system of public instruction, and the following were chosen as ofheers: Stephen Fow- ler, Jesse Brady and Nathan Merritt, commissioners; and Jonathan Cornell, Isaac Weeks, Nathaniel Hyatt, William Quimby, Thomas Vail and William Will- iams, inspectors. The town is now divided into eight distriets, besides parts of districts lying in adjoining towns. The best school building is at Chappaqua, half a mile east of the depot. It has rooms for two departments, and is pleasantly situated.

1 Pronounced Shappaqnaw, and sometimes so spelled by early writers. 2 " And so I, in the sober afternoon of life, when its sun, if not high, is still warm, have bongiit a few acres of land In the broad, still conn- try, and, bearing thither my household treasures, have resolved to steal from the city's labors and anxieties at least one day in each week, whereln to revive, as a farmer, the memories of my childhood's humble home. And already I realize that the experiment cannot cost so much as It Is worth ; already I find in that day's qulet an anthlote and a solace for the feverish, festering cares of the weeks which environ it ; already my brook murmurs a soothing even-song to my burning, throbbing braln ; and my trees, gently stirred by the fresh breezes, whisper to my spirit something of their own quiet strength and patient trust in God." -fireby's Address before the Indiana State Agricultural Society, October, 1853.

8 It is related that this dam was built on plans obtained by Mr. Greeley from Professor W. M. Gillespie, Professor of Civil Engineering in U'nion College. After the dam was carried away. Mr. Greeley met the professor and said, " That dam fell down." "Oh, no ; it didn't, Mr. Greeley," returned the professor. "That is impossible." "But I tell you lt did," insisted II. G. ; "there was a great freshet and it conld not hold the water." " Mr. Greeley," said Professor Gillesple, serenely, " so long as the laws of nature remain as they were when I gave yon those plans, that dam couldn't fall down." It turned out that, after the dam was begun, It was dechled to Increase the helght, In order to make a larger pond, without changing the dimensions of the base of the masonry ; hence the result. I'nion College boys used to tell the story to Illustrate Professor Gillesple's faith In the laws and principles of luis profession.

4 Parton's " Life of Greeley." N. Y., 1835.

625

NEW CASTLE.

In 1855-56 the Mount Kisco Educational Institute was erected. It stands on a prominent spot a short distance east of the railroad, and is a three-story building, well suited to the purpose for which it was intended. It was built by a stock company whose capital was $10.000. Its first principal was Mr. Daniel Littlefield, who had been a teacher of a New York public school. It was conducted as a school for both sexes, and was managed for several years by various persons with but moderate success. It lias been for some time in private hands, and is now occu- pied as a hotel.

The Chappaqua Mountain Institute was erected in 1869-70, and was opened in November, 1870, with about fifty pupils. It was built by subscriptions among Friends of the "Purchase Quarterly Meeting" and of New York. It is handsomely situated a short distance from Chappaqua Station, near the old Friends' Meeting-Housc. The original building was burned February 21, 1885, and the new building, now in course of erec- tion,1 occupies the same site. 'The building will be, when completed, one hundred and eighty feet by sixty, with additions back, the whole to be of brick and stone. While under the care of the " Purchase Quarterly Meeting" of Friends, it has not been sectarian, and has been largely patron- ized by other denominations the average yearly attendance being seventy-five. The school was not long interrupted by the fire, as suitable build- ings in the neighborhood were at once leased for use until the completion of the new building. Mr. Samuel C. Collins, the present principal, has had charge of the institute from the beginning. Five teachers are employcd, besides occasional lecturers.

Joshua Atrastburn

Joshua B. Washburn, the treasurer of the institu- tion, is a son of Reuben Washburn, who was born in the town of Mount Pleasant September 13, 1775, and was a farmer there until his death. Reuben Wash- burn married Hannah Flewellen, and of their twelve children, Joshua B. was the eleventh. He was born

at the homestead July 20, 1820, and was educated at the district in his native place, which he left, when nineteen, for the farmn.

He has since continued to pursue the calling of a farmer-first upon his father's place, till his thirtieth year, when he married Caroline Underhill, daughter of Alfred Underhill, and removed to Greenburgh, where he resided for a short time with his father-in-law. He afterward bought his father's place at Mount Pleas- ant, where he resided for one year, followed by an- other at Unionville, which he, in turn, left for Golden's Bridge, where he purchased a farm of his own. Nine years passed away at Golden's Bridge, after which he bought a portion of the estate of Solomon Underhill, at Sing Sing, which he sold three years later. Ile remaincd one year longer in Sing Sing, however, till he had possessed himself of a small farm at Chap- paqua, which he parted with soon after in cx- change for the property of his father-in-law, at Greenburgh, which was also sold and his present farm at Chappaqua pur- chased.

Mr. Washburn has re- sided in Chappaqua since 1872. He is a member of the Society of Friends, and lias interested him- self decply in the move- ments of hat organiza- tion throughout the coun- try, particularly in the Chappaqua Mountain In- stitute, of which, as has been said, he is treasurer. He is recognized throughout the county as an exceedingly useful citizen and member of society. He has had five children, one of whom (Alfred) is dead. The survivors are Franklin J., Jane C., Charles E. and Howard R.

CHURCHES.

There are in New Castle seven places of worship,- one Protestant Episcopal, one Methodist Episcopal, two. Union Chapels or Churches, and threc of the Society of Friends-two Orthodox and one Hicksite. There is also a Baptist Society duly organized at Chappaqua, but as yet it has no house of worship.

ST. MARK'S CHURCHI .- As early as 1722 the Rev. Robert Jenncy, the Church of England missionary in charge of the parish of Rye, which included Bedford and Mamaroneck, began holding services at

1 January, 1886.

626

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

this place, then known as North Castle, and charac- terized by him as "a new settlement in the woods." The interests of the church in this neighborhood seem to have prospered in his hands. His successor, Rev. James Wetmore, also a missionary under the direction of the Gospel Propagation Society, found the place of sufficient importance to warrant his preach- ing there onee in five weeks, ' and about this time the Society maintained a schoolmaster at Bedford and North Castle. At Bedford there were in 1725, according to Mr. Wetmore, "eight or ten families of the church,"-i. e. the church of England; and at North Castle the number was much smaller, as may be inferred from the following statement of the quotas to be paid by each of the churches or preaching stations of the parish during that year : "Rye, £34 4x. Od .; Bedford, £16 28. 0d .; Mamaroneck, £18 08. Od .; Searsdale, £53s. Od .; North Castle, 2 98. 0d." 2 Mr. Wetmore served this parish with the greatest devotion for thirty-four years, preaching at the places named and also at White Plains, and for a part of the time occasionally at Stamford and Greenwich. In 1745 he was relieved by the appointment of his son-in-law, the Rev. Joseph Lamson, to assist him. In 1746 this gentlemen reported to the Society that he officiated " to full congregations" at Bedford and North Castle. 3 Mr. Lamson continued in this relation for about two years. In 1753 Mr. Wetinore reported that the congregations had so increased that there were hopes that Bedford and North Castle would be able to support a minister. This hope, however, was not realized for many years. In 1759 Mr. St. George Talbot, an English gentlemen, then . living in New York, made, through Mr. Wetmore, a liberal donation for the benefit of the churches of Bedford and North Castle. It was then resolved to build a church at North Castle, and on the second Sunday of October, 1761, it was opened with preach- ing by the Rev. George Dibble, reetor of St. John's Church, Stamford. "Mr. St. George Talbot, the pious and noble benefactor, was present and was highly pleased with the number and devout behaviour of the people." + It was called St. George's Church, and stood about on the site of the present church. It was under the care of the ministers of the Gospel Propaga- tion Society until the Revolution, when, from the natureof affairs in the Neutral Ground, it was impossi- ble to hold services for several years. On April 19, 1787, it was incorporated under the act of April 6, 1784, by the name of " The Protestant Episcopal Church in the townships of Bedford and North Castle." Owing to a subsequent enactment affecting Episcopal Churches, it was re-incorporated September 25, 1796, under the name, "The Protestant Episcopal Church in the united towns of Bedford and New Castle, to

1 Records of the Propagation Sociely.

2 Records of Vestry of Rye.

3 Recordsof Propagation Soclely.

4 Records of The Gospel Propagation Soclely.

continue by the regular name of St. George's Church." The only regularly called pastor of the two churches was the Rev. George Strebeek, who was the rector from, August 1804, to March, 1805, when he resigned. In 1806 the people of Bedford began to agitate the question of obtaining the residue of the bequest of St. George Talbot, and building a charch there. This (St. Matthew's) was completed in 1809, and as the majority of the congregation were at Bedford, St. George's fell into disuse. The building, then nearly sixty years old, was taken down, and a part of the frame is still in existence in a barn on the farm formerly the property of the late Hezekiah Raymond. "It was said to be a very decent place for public worship, forty feet by thirty, with galleries covered and elosed with eedar. It is related that this build- ing was used as a hospital and guard-house during the war."" Tarleton mentious it as his halting-place at 4 o'clock, on the morning of July 2, 1779, on his way to Bedford. 6

The present St. Mark's Church was incorporated October 7, 1850, with Gilbert Martin aud Henry D. Tyler as wardens, and Gilbert Brundage, Thomas Wright, Thomas W. Sarles, John Cary, Andrew Dunn, Simeon Woolsey, George W. Brower and Lewis Tripp as vestrymen. It seems unfortunate that the old name of St. George's was not preserved. The organization was largely due to the efforts of the Rev. Robert W. Harris, of Grace Church, White Plains, by whose ageney funds were raised for the erection of the church. The parish was admitted iuto formal union with the convention of the diocese of New York in 1851. The building, which is of neat and church-like appearance, stands near the site of old St. George's, a few rods from the shore of Kirby's Pond, and in the midst of the grave-yard, where the remains of the earliest settlers are supposed to lie. The church was first opened for public worship on the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, Sunday, January 25, 1852. An interesting historical discourse was delivered by the Rev. Mr. Harris, in whose charge the parish continued for some time thereafter. The next rector was the Rev. Isaac D. Vermilye, who had charge both of this parish and that of St. Stephen's, in North Castle, until the early part of 1858. About Easter, of that year, the Rev. William L. Peck took charge of the parish, and was its regularly instituted rector from October, 1859, until Easter, 1865. During 1865 services were supplied by the Rev. Martin Moody, now deceased. The Rev. Joseph W. Hyde

5 Address of Rev. L. Laquer,-" Tarlelou's Raid Through Bedford ID 1770."

6 " A field on the farm of James T. Sutton is called by the gentleman, 'The French Meadow,' because of a French doctor having been killed there during the Revolutionary War. The doctor was on his way from Paris Bridge to The Episcopal Church at New Castle ('oruers, which was filled with the sick and wounded of the American army, who greally needed medical aid, which the doctor proposed to contribute, bul was preveuled from so doing by being foully murdered on his way down."-" Re- corder," Mount Kisco, March 19, 1886.

627

NEW CASTLE.

was rector for a short time during 1866, and was suc- ceeded by the Rev. C. Winter Bolton, who accepted the rectorship April 1, 1867, and resigned abont Easter, 1871. At the close of Mr. Bolton's pastorate the connection with St. Stephen's ceased. There was then a vacancy for about two years. Rev. James W. Sparks was rector during 1873 and 1874, and Rev. Joseph II. Young in 1875-76. Rev. C. B. Mee be- came rector in the summer of 1877 and continued till early in 1880. The church was vacant until August 1, 1880, when the Rev. John Anketell succeeded to the rectorship. He resigned at Easter, 1882. The Rev. Benjamin T. Hall, formerly of St. Stephen's, became the rector October 1, 1882, and is the present incumbent. During his occupancy of the parish he has also had charge of St. John's Church at Pleasant- ville, and for a part of the time has conducted " cot- tage services " at Chappaqua. By the will of Mr. Thomas Wright, who died in the fall of 1882, the church was made the recipient of the late residence of that gentleman, which is now used for a rectory. There are several acres of land attached, and it is conveniently and pleasantly situated near the church.

THE NEW CASTLE METHODIST CHURCH .- The Methodist Episcopal Church of New Castle, like all of that denomination in this region, is the result of the labors of John Wesley's missionaries in this county, which began just before the War of the Revolution, at New Rochelle. Greatly interrupted by the war, the effects of which were most seriously felt throughout the neutral ground, the movement took a fresh start immediately after its close, and the New Rochelle Circuit was formed in 1787. It comprised Westches- ter County, and the "regions beyond," and the names of its faithful itinerants, Moriarty, Garrettson, Phœbus, Brush, and others, are still remembered in the oldest Methodist families, in this and neighboring towns. The first churches organized under their efforts were those of North Castle and New Rochelle, which were incorporated in 1791.

As the cause of Methodism prospered, there grew up in the county several offshoots from the New Rochelle circuit ; first it was extended and called the New Rochelle and Croton ; then the Croton was set off; then, in 1809, the Cortlandt; in 1826 the Mount Pleasant; and in 1833, the Bedford Circuit. Under each of these, except the Cortlandt, the churches and classes in Bedford and New Castle were successively cared for. The Cortlandt circuit was the northern part of the county.

During the early years of this century, prayer and class-meetings were held at the houses of leading Methodists in this vicinity, notably those of James Hall, in Hall Street, (now Sarles Street) and of Caleb Kirby, at Kirbyville, both members and officers in the North Castle Church. A great revival about 1818 and an increased attendance at these meetings and at the meetings of the circuit preachers, led to a dis- cussion of the question of organizing a church at New

Castle. By the efforts of those already named, and of James Fish, Tyler Fountain and others, the church was incorporated December 16, 1824. In the follow- ing year a lot of a quarter of an acre was given by Caleb Kirby, near where St. Mark's Church now stands, and in 1826 the first church was erected there- on. It was a small and plain building, not unlike an ordinary school-house, but it served the purpose of the society for sixteen years, and its pulpit was occupied by many noted preachers of those times, among them, it is related, the famous Lorenzo Dow.

In 1833, when the Bedford circuit was formed, this congregation was the second in importance of the ten appointments of the circuit, Middle Patent being the first.1 In 1845 it had attained sufficient size to be set off from the circuit, and was made, with one or two other appointments, a separate charge.

Five years before this the Bedford church, which had stood many years at the Four Corners, was moved to Bedford village, and the New Castle congregations received considerable accessions from families who had previously attended that church. Owing to this, and to other causes of growth, the little church was found to be too small, and a more commodious one was built a few rods south of the first. It was dedi- cated in February, 1843, with services by Rev. Charles Putnam and others. This edifice was used till 1867. In the meantime, as in other villages, the centre of business and of population had moved toward the railroad station at Mount Kisco, and, when the third house of worship became necessary, the site was moved half a mile further west. It was begun in 1866, and the lecture room in the basement so far fin- ished as to be used in May, 1867. The building was completed a little more than a year ater, and dedi- cated August 20, 1868, with services by Bishop Janes, Dr. Foster, Dr. Wakely and others. It stands on the very edge of the town, the boundary between New Castle and Bedford crossing the yard a few feet in front of the church. It is a handsome and convenient structure. A parsonage was built (in 1871) near by, the cost of both being not far from thirty thousand dollars. Both the old churches are still standing, hav- ing been rebuilt, and are in use as dwellings.

The following is a list of the ministers of New Castle Methodist Episcopal Church since it became a sep- arate charge, in 1845,-

1845-46. , Rev. Daniel Devine. 1865. . . . Rev. Thomas Fero.

1847-48. . Rev. John Lnekey. 1866-68. . Rev. J. Millard.

1849. . . . Rev. J. Z. Nichols. 1869-70. . Rev. Delos Lull.

1850-51. . Rev. Thomas Sparks. 1871-72. . Rev. J. F. Richmond.

1852-53. . Rev. Davis Stocking. 1873-74. . Rev. C. M. Eggleston.

1854-55. . Rev. Benjamin Griffin.

1875-77. . Rev. J. W. Ackerly.

1856-57. . Rev. C. S. Brown.

1878-79. . Rev. S. 1. Ferguson.

1858-59. . Rev. Thomas Lodge.

1880-82. . Rev. W'm. E. Ketcham.

1860-61. . Rev. D. Buck.

1883-85. . Rev. George Clarke.

1862-63. . Rev. A. D. Vail.

1886. . . . Rev. G. W. Terbush.

1864. . . . Rev. E. Foster.

CHAPPAQUA UNION MEETING HOUSE .- " The

I See Bedford, " History of Methodist Episcopal Church."

628

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

Chappaqua Union Meeting House Association " was incorporated February 4, 1867, with Jesse H. Under- hill, Robert S. Haviland, Edward J. Carpenter, Rob- ert Lindley Murray, and Horace Greeley as trustees. The articles of incorporation set forth that the "said building is to be used for holding religious meetings, the accommodation of Sunday-schools, and the delivery of lectures, or for any other benevolent, charitable, literary, or scientifie purpose that the trustèes, managers or directors shall authorize." The building is a good-sized convenient structure, stand- ing at the foot of the hill east of the station, a few steps north of the entrance to the Greeley place. It has been constantly used for the purposes above mentioned.

NEW CASTLE UNION CHURCH .- " The Union Free Church of New Castle " was incorporated November 5, 1867, with Jesse Ryder, E. D. Truesdell, David B. Tompkins, Isaac Young, William L. Dubois, and James Cornell, as trustees. The building is in the western part of the town, about three miles from Sing Sing, near the school-house of district No. 6. The intentions of the founders are thus expressed in the articles of incorporation ; "to establish a free church which shall be used for the purpose of Christian wor- ship of Almighty God, and for promoting Christian knowledge and instruction." Religions services are frequently held there under the direction of ministers of different denominations.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II, Part 145

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