History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II, Part 158

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 158

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The action of the Union Defense Committee did not stop here. Shortly, an order came for drafting men into the service for the war. The quota of this town was fixed at eighty men. The committee de- termined to furnish a bounty of three hundred dollars to every man drafted who should go to the war, and also to pay three hundred dollars for each substitute provided. A special town-meeting was called, and authority was given to the supervisor to borrow upon the credit of the town the further sunt of twelve thou- sand six hundred dollars, and to apply the money thus raised to the payment of bounty money and for sub- stitutes. The result of the draft was that forty-two residents of this town were held to perform military service. All of these, but one, were provided with substitutes at three hundred dollars each.

Soon after came the call for three hundred thou- sand additional troops. The quota of the town of Rye under this last call was forty-five. Again the Defense Committee took the lead, and by their prompt action the funds were raised for filling up this last quota. The sum of fourteen thousand six hundred and twenty- five dollars was borrowed from variousindividuals, upon the credit of the town. With this fund the committee procured the necessary number of recruits, paying for each recruit the sum of three hundred and twenty-

five dollars, which included the expense of recruit- ing. This quota was filled and completed on the 30th of December, 1863, and the statement was made, by authority of the provost marshal, that the town of Ryc was the first town in this Congressional district that filled its quota under the call for three hun- dred thousand men.

Rye furnished from the opening of the Rebellion about three hundred and fifty men for the war. Of these, one hundred and twenty-six were residents of the town, and were volunteers under the first call ; one hundred and thirty-eight enlisted under Gov- ernor Morgan's proclamation of August 13, 1862; one man was drafted, forty-one substitutes were pro- vided and forty-five recruits obtained. Thetown re- sponded promptly to cvery call made for troops, cither by national or by State government, and provided bountifully for the families of those who went forth to sustain the honor of the country. It is supposed that, in addition to the numbers already stated, as many as fifty persons from the town enlisted in Con- necticut regiments.

The work of the Union Defense Committee was ad- mirably done. Their consultations were always marked with harmony and zealous co-operation.

On the 30th of April, 1861, Captain Nelson B. Bartram left the town with the first company of vol- unteers. They were duly mustered into the service of the United States in the city of New York, as Company B, Seventeenth Regiment New York Vol- unteers. In this company forty-four men who were residents of this town served.1

1 Their names were, -

Nelson B. Bartram.

Charles Ged ney.

John Vickers.

Joseph Hibberd.

Charles Hilbert.

William Hennessy.

James Fox.

Augustus Adams.

Thomas Beal, Jr.

Jacob Lender,

Lonis Neelling.

Williau HI. Lee.

Augustus Dittman.

William Lee.

Wm. A. Crothers.

John Murphy.

Seaman V. Morrell.

Jolin Murty.

Joseph H. Beal.

Thomas Mckay.

Robert Magee.

Lafayette Merritt.

Willianı Baker.

Henri Siltz.

Andrew Burns.

James Worden.

Edward Bowen.

Anthony Warner.

George W. Bulkley.

William Whelpley,

Jolın Beal.

Theodore Miller.

Darius Butterfield.

Ulric Ersigner.

James C'nuningham.

John Fay.

Frederick Cross.

Daniel Mahon.

Thomas Donahue.

Richard Aylman.

Benjamin Glawson.

Timothy Bulkley. Jerry O'Donald.

Conrad Graff.

Captain Bartram was promoted, December 5, 1861, to be major.

Charles Hilbert, second lieutenant, was promoted, December 20th, to be captain.

John Vickers, first lieutenant, was transferred, August 3d, to Com- pany F.

Thomas Beal, Jr., sergeant till October 4thi ; first sergeant till August 30, 1862 ; was wounded in the battle of Bull Run, and promoted to be second lieutenant from that date.

Robert Magee, corporal till October 4th ; sergeant till March 1, 1863 ; was first sergeant from that date.

- -

RYE.

682

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

This company did good service, and bore a very high character throughout the war.

Immediately after its departure Captain Charles H. Palmer commeneed to recruit, at his expense, a com- pany in the town, which, when filled, was mustered into the service, in the city of New York, as Company C, Forty-ninth Regiment New York Volunteers. Twenty of its members were residents of Rye.1

When Captain Palmer's company was nearly filled, Captain Thomas Beal commenced to reeruit a com- pany in Rye, sending the men as fast as they were re- eruited to Staten Island, where they were mustered into the service. Thirty-eight of these men were residents of the town.2

In addition to the recruits thus sent out there were enlisted and mustered into the serviee in different regiments of New York and Brooklyn twenty-three men, residents of the town.3

When the call eame in 1862 for three hundred thousand men, Captain Pahner resigned his position

Joseph Beal, corporal. John Beal, corporal from Angust 10, 1862; was sergeant from March I. 1863.

Silas Downs was corporal from October 4, 1861.

James Fox was promoted to be sergeant-major October 4, 1862.

Benj. Clawson was corporal from March 1, 1863.

1 Their names were,-

Charles II. Palmer.

John Mead.

Jacob Adams.

Levi Strayer.

Gabriel Burger.

Gilbert Miller.

William II. Tyler.

William Howard.

Benjamin Sherwood.

.John Fisher.

Bloomer Churchill.

Augustus Smith.

Calvin Churchill.

Leander Burns.

George Fish.

I. Wright.

W'm. II. Hutchins.

Frederick C. Lord.

Joseph Sterry,

I. Wight.

2 Their names were, --

Theodore P. Butler. William II. Voorhies. Lucius Miller.

John P. Whitehouse.

Adam Iler.

John Williams.

Martin Davidson.

James Anderson.

John C. O'Neal.

Patrick McArdle.

- Allemer. - Knotz.

Edwin A. Rogers.

William Keys.

George II. Summers. Silns Weed. John Ready. Stephen S. Sutton.

Floyd Pugsley. Iliram Brundage.

John Rockett.

Samuel C. Ingersoll.

Jeremiah Sheridan.

John II. Hopper.

Edw. L. Lee.

Richard Pierson.

James Shaw. Milton Wing.

Jaines Moines.

Enmet MI. Hoyt.

John Mcl'ormick.

3 Their names were,- E. D. Richman.

John Townley.

llenry S. Green.

David K. Daniels.

James Thompson. Ambr. W. Thompson. John Kaufman. John Fisher.

- Dodge.

George Ilillian.

Geo. E. Waring, Ir.

l'eter O'Brien. - Washburn.

Charles Down.

Abraham Van Honghten.

I'rancis Elliott.

Edwin Fiekl.

Frank Middlebrook.

Chas, MeGill. stephen P. Wesley.

John Reardon.

Charles Lowden.

John WarIng.

and returned to Port Chester to organize another company. It was mustered into the service at Yonkers, on the 2d of September, 1862, in the Thir- teenth New York Volunteers. It was transferred to the Sixth New York Heavy Artillery on the 2d of October, 1862.4

Thirty-seven volunteers from thetown enlisted and were enrolled in other regiments of New York and Brooklyn subsequent to July 2, 1862.5

Others, who are not named in the foregoing lists, went into the army from Rye, and did good service at different periods in the course of the war. Among them were Peter A. Jay, Dr. John C. Jay, Jr., Arthur W. Parsons and Kiliaen Van Rensselaer.

In recent years the growth of Rye has been greatly accelerated by its inereasing popularity as a summer resort. Many families have been drawn hither by the beauty and healthfulness of the spot and by its proximity to New York. A large number have made it their permanent home.

RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS .- As the latest and remotest plantation of the colony of Connecticut, Rye remained longer than any other without the benefits of a settled ministry, and when those benefits had been seeured in a measure, the transfer of the town from the government of Connecticut to that of New

4 The following members of this company wore residents of the town of Rye :

Charles II. Palmer, captain, woundled nt Mechanicsville, May 3, 1864, while in command of the First Battalion, promoted in February, 1865, to be major, and shortly after commissioned as colonel, but not umustered in; Charles McIntosh, first sergeant, wounded May 20, 1864 : James Reynolds, sergeant ; Cephas Peck, sergennt ; John L. Little, sergeant ; Gabriel S. Burger, sergeant ; George E. Rood, corporal ; Henry C. Fox, corporal; Frank Kelly ; John Hughes, wounded Jime 15, 1864 : Jere- miah L. Butterfield, killed Mny 30, 1864 ; Michael Madigan ; Joseph II. Morrell; John A. Billington ; John S. St. John, corporal, taken prisoner May 27,1864 ; Jacob Lender ; William Reynolds; Wmm. II. Mosier ; Ja- cob Scheile ; W'm. H. Romer, Sr. ; William Ashby ; John Riley ; Wm. II. Romer, Jr .; Peter Butterfield ; Walter L. Rood : Owen Duffy, wounded July 12. 18G1 ; Edward BillIngton ; Thomas T. Ilalpin: William II. Hees ; William E. Ilriggs ; William S. Morse ; Ilenry Lowrey, died April 5, 1863 ; T. W. Johnson, wounded May 30, 1864 ; Thos. M. Smith ; Luke Gaffney : John S. Merritt; B. McDonnell; Geo. W. P. Bouton ; T. M. Swift ; Thos. Golden, wounded June IS, 1864 ; Thomas Conlin ; Thos. Colvin ; John Townsend; Sidney Smith ; James Taylor ; John Miller ; S. Waterbury.

6 Their names were,-

Edward Ireland, Clinton Summers, JJoseph Smith, Michael McGrath, Henry Loomis, Jeremiah Summers, Robert Bennett, Andrew Johns, Lewis Sours, William Davison, Angustus Johnson, Walter Andrews, Andrew St. John, William II. Miles, Henry C. Brown, Philemon A. Paris, Francis H. Minnett, Edward C. Tompkins, Thos. Murphy, Wm. E. Thorne, John S. Kraft, Alexander S. Merritt, John Glynn, John II. IInines (Thirteenth Cavalry), Willim Ennis, Peter Devil, David Nichel, Edward Parker (Thirteenth Cavalry), Albert Fuller, Andrew Melnurie. William Brown, Edward Murtagh, William II. Prior, James Power. Ju- Fins Schmidt, G. W. Howard, Thos. smith.

The following persons from the town were mustered into Connect nt regiments :

Thomas Miley. Martin Fitzpatrick. Michnel Cuin. - Washburn.

John Hillman. Charles Riddle. IMward stiles.

.Joseph Crank. Joseph Hird. Martin Stahalen. James Waring.

Edw. W. Thompson.

William Cleveland. Albert Burrows. Joseph Ilines.

.John C. Faulkner.

David C. Banks. Joseph Harrison. l'hilip Angel.

Lawrence Fitzgerakl.

George W. Floyd.

William Walton.

683

RYE.

York was followed by religious differences and dis- sensions that could not but be prejudicial to the high- est interests of the people. The settlers of Connecti- cut were English Puritaus. Their doctrinal belief was Calvinistic and their ecclesiastical system was a modified form of Presbyterianism. The first care of the founders of Connecticut was to provide every town with religious ordinances and a competent min- istry. In October, 1669, nine years after the com- mencement of a plantation at Rye, the General Court of Connecticut was informed that the people of Rve were " yet destitute of an orthodox minister." There were families enough to support a minister, but the people seem to have drifted into loose and " disorderly " ways. John Coe and Marmaduke Smith, who were represented to the court as unsound and heterodox, were undertaking to teach or conduct re- ligious services. John Coe was one of the founders of the town. Who Marmaduke Smith was does not appear. Under instructions from the General Court, a town-meeting was held at Rye, November 17, 1670, and the inhabitants made choice of Joseph Horton, Thomas Brown and John Brondig, who were " to do their endeavour to procure a minister." It was also agreed to allow "two-pence in the pound for the maintenance of a minister amongst us ; that is to say an orthodox minister." Six months elapsed and in May. 1671, the General Court appointed certain persons to go to Rye, and, besides other business, "to lend their endeavoures in the procuring of an able and orthodox minister to setle in that place."

" If the people of Rye shall not coneur with their endeauoures in procuring a minister, and comfortably setleing of him " among them, these persons were em- powered " to agree with a suitable man for that worke in that place ; " and they were to "insure to him a mayntenance to the value of forty pownds pr annum, which the treasurer, by warrant to the constable of sayd Rye, shall order the gathering and payment thereof, with the Conntry Rate."

Three years more pass by, making fourteen in all, during which Rye seems to have been without a stated ministry. It does not follow that the Gospel was never preached here throughout that period. Trumbull says that Rye and Greenwich "had oc- casional preaching only for a considerable time." Colonel Heathcote, speaking of the care that the people of Rye took to provide a parsonage house "at such times as they were destitute of a minister," mentions the adjoining towns of Greenwich and Stam- ford as places " where they were always supplied."

The first person who is known to have officiated for any length of time in the ministry at Rye was Eliphalet Jones, who, in 1674, was requested by the General Court "to take the paynes to dispence the word of God to the people of Rye once a fortnight on the Lord's Day, till the court, October next, and then this court will take further order concerning them and for Mr. Joanes' sattisfaction."

Eliphalet Jones was the son of the Rev. John Jones, a man of some note in the early history of the New England churches. He came to this country from England, in 1635, a clergyman of the Established Church, and was first settled at Concord, Massa- chusetts, and afterwards at Fairfield, Connecticut, where he became pastor of the church organized there by his efforts. Eliphalet was born at Concord in 1641. He received his education under the care of Peter Bulkley, who had been his father's colleague at Concord, and studied at Harvard College, but did not graduate. In 1669 we find him admitted to the privileges of a freeman of Connecticut. He was at Greenwich in 1674, when the above order was given ; not, however, as thesettled pastor of that town, but as a missionary or evangelist. It would seem that he continued in this neighborhood for about three years, preaching at Rye, probably, from time to time, as occasion appeared. In 1677, Mr. Jones accepted a call to Huntington, Long Island, where he remained and labored for more than fifty years, dying in 1731, at the good old age of ninety. He was never mar- ried. He is said to have been "a man of great purity and simplicity of life and manners, and a faithful and successful preacher."

Having provided for an occasional supply, the General Court continued to urge upon the people the necessity of securing a regular pastor. October 8, 1674, a committee was appointed to "endeavour the obteyning and setling of a minister at Rye." In the spring of 1675 the people took steps in that direction. The Rev. John Prudden,1 minister of Jamaica, Long Island, was called to Rye, at the suggestion of the General Court of Connecticut. He came in the spring of the year 1675, but remaine only a year, in consequence, it would seem, of a disagreement with reference to the parsonage house and lands. The people had set apart a lot for the minister's house and certain other lands for a glebe. The house-lot was situated in the village, " by the Blind Brook." It would appear that Mr. Prudden objected to the loca- tion, for on the 27th of May, 1675, the town ex- changed this lot for the home-lot of Peter Disbrow, which Mr. Prudden was to have for his parsonage lot ifhe remained. A building was commenced on the site for the minister. But in 1676 the agreement for the exchange of the lots was canceled, and next year the " frame intended for the parsonage house " was

I In the " llistory of Rye," page 277, seq., I have stated that this min- ister was Peter Prudden. So the name is given by Mr. Bolton (" History of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Westchester County," page 133), in a quotation from the town records, vol. A, now lost. But it is certain that John Prudden was intended, not Peter, his father, who was'minister of Wethersfield, Conn, in 1638. John Prudden was minister of Jamaica, L. I., from 1670 to 1675, and from 1676 to 1692. In January, 1674-75, he informed the people of Jamaica that he was "under engagement to another people," and brought his ministry there to a close ; but a year later he returned and remained in Jamaica until 1692. This interval was undoubtedly the term of Mr. Prudden's ministry at Rye. He died in Newark, N. J., December 11, 1725.

634

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

sold. This, doubtless, was owing to the fact that the negotiation with Mr. Prudden had failed. He re- turned to Jamaica, and resumed his ministry in that place, where he remained for sixteen years longer.

His successor was the Rev. Thomas Denham, who was the first minister actually settled at Rye. Hle came in 1677 and remained for seven years. A house-lot was appropriated to his nse in June, 1677, and on the 22d of November following he was admitted as an inhabitant of Rye. On the 21st of June, 1678, it was decided that he was "to have all the grass on the highway at the old town, besides an equal share with the pro- prietors of Peniugo Neck." On the 5th of March, 1679, " fifty poles of land lying before his door, to- ward the brook," were granted to Mr. Denham. His salary was to be thirty pounds per annum.

Mr. Denham's home was the parsonage house in the village, at the southeast corner of the parsonage lot. "The small framed dwelling " must have af- forded very narrow accommodations for his family- a wife and six children. Not far from the house, on the opposite side of the post road, was the house of Timothy Knapp, where, for want of a church, the lit- the community was accustomed to meet on the Sab- bath for public worship. Mr. Denham's min- istry terminated about 1684. He removed to Bed- ford and became pastor of the church in that place. He died there in 1689, at the age of sixty-eight. He seems to have been a worthy minister, and to have enjoyed the respect and confidence of the people of Rye. He was succeeded as pastor of Rye by Rev. John Woodbridge, in 1684. Mr. Woodbridgeappears to have preached for several years, with interruptions, during which the place was without a minister. In 1690 and 1693 persons were appointed to procure one, and in 1697 a committee was appointed to confer with Mr. Woodbridge "concerning his settling amongst us." Whatever agreement was reached was not of long duration, for in 1697 Rev. Nathanael Bowers came to Rye, and remained as pastor till 1700, when he was called to Greenwich. The work of building a church was undertaken during the pas- torate of Mr. Bowers. " At a towne-meeting in Ry September 20, 1697, Capt. Theall, John Horton, Joseph Purdy, Hacaliah Browne, John Lyon, Thomas Merit, Isaac Denham are chosen as a Commity for the management and carrying on the worke of build- ing of a meeting-house for the town of Ry and also for the appointing of a place where it shall set and the above-said meting-honse shall not acsed [exceed] above thirty foot square." In November, 1698, another committee is chosen " for the building of a house for minester." January 25, 1698 [1699], the town resolves that " whereas a commity was appointed at a former town-meting for the building of a towne house for the yose of the ministere and the towne hath further impowered the above-said commity to procced in the building of ye house with all speed-

the above-said house is to be as followeth : thirty foot in length and twenty foot in breadth and two story in haith and a Leanto joyning to it." In the same year, February 27th, " the Proprietors of Peningo Neck grant unto the towne of Rye a parcell of land of four rods square for the said towne [to] set a house upon, lying as convenient as may be on that lot where the town-house now stauds." The "town-house " meant sometimes the minister's dwelling and sometimes the place of worship. The above orders evidently refer- red to its nse as a place of worship. Ou the 30th of Angust, 1670, Isaac Denham and Joseph Budd were chosen collectors to gather the moneys due for the building of the town-house-Denham for the east side of Blind Brook and Budd for the west side. In June, 1701, Isaac Denham was made collector for the whole town of Rye for the gathering of moneys due for build- ing the town-house. The money was raised in the cus- tomary way-by a tax levied on the inhabitants. How far the building of the church proceeded at this period has not been ascertained. It would appear that moneys were granted and some portion of them col- lected for this purpose. A site for the house seems also to have been chosen " on that lot where the town- house now stands." This was the parsonage house, and the spot must have been on the same narrow strip of land in the village between the post road and Blind Brook. There is no evidence, however, that such a building was actually erected there. About the same time these measures were in contemplation an effort was made to secure more ground for the minister's nse. On the 29th of December, 1698, the town appointed John Lyon and Isaac Denham a committee to lay out land for a parsonage, not exceed- ing forty acres, where they might " see it convenient." The committee were also directed to enter into nego- tiations with Humphrey Uuderhill for his land and lay it ont if he and they could agree. It does not ap- pear that they succeeded.

The " parsonage lots " at Rye were three tracts of land set apart, according to the New England custom, soon after the settlement of the town. One of these was situated at the lower end of Peningo Neck, on "Parsonage Point," another was iu the Town Field, and the third lay in the village proper, on the | bank of Blind Brook. Parsonage Point was evi- dently the very earliest reservation of land for the minister's nse. It comprised three acres, and the location indicates that it was set apart by the inhab- itants of " Hastings," or while the settlers still lin- gered near Manussing Island, about the year 1662. Parsonage Point forms the southeastern extremity of Peningo Neck, and lies about a mile below Rye Beach. It is laid down upon the maps to this day, and the name is still in common nse. The " home-lot " in the village where the ministers, first of the Presbyterian and afterwards of the Anglican communion, lived, occupied the grounds owned in recent years by Mr. Angustns Halsted, Miss Bush and Mr. Thomas Peek,

685

RYE.

between the post road and Blind Brook. All the church reservations passed into the hands of the Church of England, which became the established religion at Rye, as elsewhere in the province of New York, and Christ Church Parish retained possession of the " home-lot " until 1847, when it was sold. The same parish acquired before the Revolution a valu- able glebe on the west side of Blind Brook, opposite the village, which was sold in 1846.

For many years after the removal of Mr. Bowers to Greenwich, in 1700, the Presbyterians of Rye were without a settled pastor. Some of them conformed to the Church of England. Others attended the Anglican services without conforming. By far the greater part of the population, however, continued to avow themselves Presbyterians. In 1710 two-thirds of the population belonged to that denomination. Upon the death of the Anglican clergyman, Mr. Bridge, May 22, 1719, the Presbyterians attempted to possess themselves of the church, which was regarded as town property, and, in their opinion, frec to them for purposes of public worship. They appear to have succeeded, and during the three years that elapsed before an- other rector was in- ducted they probably met here, more or less regularly, under the Rev. Stephen Bucking- ham's teachings, whom they had invited to labor among them. Under his BLIND BROOK ministry the Presbyte- rian congregation be- came consolidated and thenceforth maintained THE "HOME LOT" IN 1722. a corporate existence. Mr. Buckingham returned to Connecticut in 1722 and was succeeded by Rev. John Walton, who came to Rye about 1723, remaining until 1728. Mr. Walton, who came from the Presbytery of Philadelphia, wasa native of New London, Conn., and a graduate of Yale. He is said to have been a gifted preacher, but erratic and self-willed. His labors served, however, to greatly strengthen the congregation at Rye. Through his efforts a house of worship was built at White Plains, and another, soon afterwards, at Rye, on Pul- pit Plain, on the northwest corner of the post road and the " road to the Cedars, subsequently opened." The latter church occupied this site until the Revo- lutionary War. It was not erected without consider- able difficulty. Aid was asked of the Governor and Council of Connecticut. The petition, dated May 11, 1727, was signed by the following persons :

Ebenezer Theall. Joseph Brondige. Samnell Lane.

" John Walton. Joseph Sharhod [sherwood]. Andro Sharhod [ id. ] Peter Brown. Samuel Brown.

Daniel Purdy.

Thomas Lyon jnnr.

Abraham Broudige.

Win. Molmath [ Monmouth ] Hart.

Samnell Lane jr.

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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 158

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