History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II, Part 73

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 73

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).

" The many references to Mrs. Catharina Philipse show how thor- onghly she was interested in the church. There is special reference to the fact that she frequently defrayed the expenses of bringing the min- ister, when he came several timesa year, for abont twenty years, from his home in Hackensack to officiate in the old church. When she died she was buried in n vault under the floor of the church. The story runs that when, some years ago, the floor was torn up for repairs, two anti- marians appeared in the neighborhood and wero exceedingly anxious to see the final resting-place of this woman. A suspicion was aroused that they were more anxious to see the silver plate upon her cothin. Before night set in the workmen had arranged that as much of the weight of the floor as possible shonhl rest forever on her tomb.

" The first time that English words were used in administering the

300

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

rite of baptism was on the 25th of September, 1785. The child baptized was Lovine, daughter of Solomon Hauws and Lovine llammon, and the officiating clergymun was the Rev. Stephen Van Voorhees. The use of the English words gave great offense, and all the people cried out against the innovation. Hardly anything contributed more to stunt the growth of the Dutch elmurch in this country than its clinging so tenaciously to the Dutch language when all the world around was using English.

" There was long a tradition that a hole had been made in the ball above the belfry by a British musket-ball.' A sexton connected with this church went up one day to examine. He found the hole, but it faced the Southeast, away from the road as it now runs, So, with much labor, he screwed the ball around in order that the hole might face the present rond, ignorant of the fact that the road once ran south and east of the church, lle was not the first man who has twisted his facts to make them conform to his theory of history.

" The stories which are afloat and which have never been recorded concerning the peculiarities or traits of the different ministers cannot, of course, go back much beyond the present century. Some of them are of small importance and are only entertaining as gossip.

" The Rev. Thomas G. Smith was the pastor for thirty years. In manners and dress he was the precise opposite of his predecessor, the Rev. John F. Jackson. lle has been described as covered with snuff from head to foot. lle had a great atlliction in a termagant wife, who sometimes locked him in the house when it was time for him to go to church, and the waiting flock wondered why the shepherd did not ap- pear. Sometimes, while he was preaching, she would enjoy herself by driving up and down the road. When she came to church she always carried a pillow. And she was loud and unceasing in her complaints to the church and its officers of the faults and shortcomings of her hus- band. This good-humored, able-bodied man, with his slovenly dress, for which she was perhaps in part responsible, seemed to bear it all with a good deal of equanimity. He was very popular and crowds came to hear him preach. lle was a Scotchman, with a Scotchman's love of humor. Sometimes he preached at the house of a Mr. Odell, who lived in Abbotts ford, below Irvington, and in giving ont the notice of his intention to preach in this place, he would designate the man as ' Mr. Odell, the father of all the Odells.' llis tomb is in the rear of the old church."

After the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow, and its continuation in the First Reformed Church of Tarrytown, whose history has already been sketched in the preceding pages, the next oldest church now within the corporate limits of North Tarrytown is the Methodist Protestant Church, whose present house of worship is on Beekman Avenue.

THE METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH was organized as early at least as 1834. Unfortunately, there are no records attainable, and it is difficult to ascertain the date with certainty, but it is learned from some old printed minutes of the conference that a pastor, the Rev. John S. Ambler, was appointed in 1834, which implies, of course, that the church was already in existence. The first church building oc- cupied for public worship stood west of the railroad track on Lower Main Street, leading to the Point Dock, and near the hotel now known as Democratic Hall. The congregation afterwards removed to a small building on the southeast corner of Cortlandt Street and College Avenue. Later still they removed to the building on the south side of Cedar Street, west af Cortlandt ; and finally, when St. Mark's Episcopal Church removed into its new edifice on Broadway in 1868, the Methodist Protestant congregation pur- chased their church building on Beekman Avenne, and soon after removed into it, where they have wor- shipped ever since. The church has a membership of one hundred and twenty-five, with one hundred

scholars in the Sabbath-school. Its present pastor is the Rev. R. S. Hulsart.

Sr. TERESA'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH .- The construction of the Hudson River Railroad first brought a sufficient number of Roman Catholic immi- grants to Tarrytown to warrant the Rev. Father Ry- an, of Yonkers, in 1850, in erecting the place into a mission. He celebrated the first Mass, it is believed, at the residence of Patrick Fitz-Patrick, in Cedar Street, North Tarrytown. In 1850 and 1851, Father Leguais, S. J., came up from St. John's College at Fordham, then recently established, to attend to this new Catholic mission. He gathered his congregation in a not very spacious room in the house of Mrs. Cain, in "Brick-Yard Row." Afterwards the little flock worshipped in the residence of Patrick Donohoe, father of Mrs. Thomas Doyle, Jr., on Beekman Avenue, nearly opposite the district school. One room afforded ample space for all the worshippers.

Toward the end of 1851 the Rev. Thomas S. Pres- ton, who had "gone over to Rome" with Cardinal Newman, the late Archbishop Bayley and others, and who is now Monsignor Preston, viear-general of the archdiocese, became pastor of the Catholic Church at Yonkers, and by him an effort was made to ereet a mission church for the Tarrytown portion of his flock. Like all beginnings, the effort met opposi- tion. Washington Irving headed the list of subscrib- ers with one hundred dollars. Father Preston's zeal, however, overcame the obstacles, and late in 1851 he purchased a piece of ground, one hundred by one hun- dred and twenty-five feet, on De Peyster Street, near Cortlandt, on which St. Teresa's Church now stands. In 1852 an imposing edifice, as the few parishioners then considered it, of fifty by thirty feet was erected. Hitherto Mass had been celebrated only once a month, and the rest of the time the congregation at- tended at Sing Sing, but in 1852 Father Preston cele- brated Mass twice a month.

The first resident pastor was the Rev. John Hack- ett who took charge in 1858. He died, however, in 1863, and was succeeded the same year by Father Mark Murphy, a fine scholar, who served only fourteen monthis. During his pastorate the brick residence was purchased adjoining the church.

The present pastor is the Rev. Patrick Egan, who assumed the charge in August, 1864, and has served continuously ever since. Under his good manage- ment the large debt on the property has been cancelled, and it was through his efforts that the mission at Irvington was begun.

In 1868 it was found necessary to enlarge St. Te- resa's Church edifice, but being unable to secure the lot in the rear, the space was ceonomized and large transepts were built, one hundred by thirty-five feet, which more than doubled the size of the building.

Up to 1874 Mass had been celebrated only once on Sunday, but on Easter Sunday, 1874, two masses be- gan to be celebrated every Sunday.

301

MOUNT PLEASANT.

During the summer of 1874 the property on Beek- man Avenue was purchased, one hundred and fifty by one hundred and twenty-five feet, making the en- tire church premises one hundred and fifty by two hundred and fifty feet. The " old part " of the church was raised two feet, and the whole much improved in its appointments. A beautiful new altar was pre- sented by Carolan O'Brian Bryant, in memory of his late wife, a daughter of Mr. John Anderson, and Mr. Anderson himself presented a beautiful oil painting of the Crucifixion.

In May, 1875, the Rev. Joseph P. Egan was ap- pointed assistant pastor by Cardinal McCloskey, the first clerical appointment, it is believed, that the car- dinal made after his own elevation to the office.

The rectory on Beekman Avenue was built in the summer of 1876, at the personal expense of Father Egan, the pastor, and will remain a monnment of his affection for his people.

St. Teresa's Total Abstinence Society was formed August 15, 1869, and has always labored for the ex- tirpation of intemperance. It has about sixty mem- bers. In all there are about two hundred pledged members in the Total Abstinence Societies belonging to the church.

ST. MARK'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH .- In 1857, by the agency of the Rev. William Creighton, D.D., then rector of Christ Church, Tarrytown, a mis- sion was established north of the Andre Brook, in what was then called Beekmantown, but which, since the date of its incorporation, in 1874, has been known as North Tarrytown. After a few years of prosperity, under the care of the Rev. Franklin Babbitt, the mission was temporarily suspended, owing, it is believed, to a complication of misunder- standings. Not more than six months had elapsed, however, before the Rev. Edmund Guilbert was ap- pointed to take charge of the enterprise, and nnder his energetic management it again revived and pros- pered. His ministry began Angust 1, 1861, and on December 14, 1863, the mission was incorporated asa separate organization, under the name of St. Mark's Episcopal Church, with the Rev. Mr. Guilbert as its rector.

On February 6, 1864, the church building pre- viously erected on Beekman Avenue, now owned and occupied by the Methodist Protestant Church, was purchased by the new organization from the rector, wardens and vestry of Christ Church, Tarrytown. The structure, however, after more than a year's trial, was found to be unsuited to the wants of the congre- gation, and it was resolved on May 2, 1865, that a new edifice be erected in a desirable location, and that the name of the church should be "The Memorial Church of Washington Irving."

On July 6, 1865, a lot was purchased on the north- west corner of Broadway and College Avenue, at a cost of thirty-four hundred dollars. Mr. James Ren- wick was selected as architeet, and, on March 1, 1866,

the work of building was commenced. On July 5, 1866, the corner-stone was laid by the Right Rev. Horatio Potter, D.D., bishop of the diocese, and a spirited and impressive address was delivered by the Rev. Stephen H. Tyng, D.D., rector of St. George's Church, in New York City. On February 3, 1868, the church was so far completed as to admit of its being used for public worship, and on that day the congre- gation moved in and the first service was held. The total cost of the church was about eighty thousand dollars, and now, happily, after a long struggle, it is all paid.

The church, has had a succession of four rectors, as follows : Rev. Edmund Guilbert, in charge from Au- gust 1, 1861, until December 14, 1863, during which time the enterprise was a mission under the auspices of Christ Church, Tarrytown ; and from December 14, 1863, as rector, until July 1, 1876. Rev. Mytton Maury, D.D., until October 7, 1878. Rev. John F. Herrlich, until October 1, 1883. Rev. J. B. Jennings, who was called to the rectorship October 19, 1883, and resigned in Oetober, 1885. The present reetor is the Rev. Martin K. Schermerhorn, who entered upon his duties early in March, 1886.

ST. PAUL'S METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCHI .- St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church, of North Tarry- town, was organized May 19, 1873, by the election of Jolın S. MeLean, Charles Smith, David Silver, T. J. Lawrence and Edward T. Lovatt as its first board of trustees.

The late Rev. George N. Pratt was its first pastor, and this was his first charge. The congregation began to worship in what was then known as "Birdsall's Hall," on the southeast corner of Beekman Avenue and Washington Street. The lot on which the church edifice now stands was presented to the congregation by the late Mr. John Anderson.

On June 9, 1874, the corner-stone of the new build- ing was laid by Bishop Edmund S. Janes, D. D., with appropriate religious services. Addresses were deliv- ered by Bishops Simpson and Janes, and also by Dr. Deems, of New York City, and others.

On June 20, 1875, the lecture-room, on the ground- floor, was dedicated by Bishop Janes, assisted by the Rev. W. P. Abbott, D.D.

On June 3, 1878, the church itself was dedicated. It was an occasion of great interest, and the beauty of a June Sabbath added much to the general enjoy- ment. Bishop Matthew Simpson, D.D., who officiated, preached in the morning and dedicated the church. The Rev. Dr. Crawford, presiding elder, preached in the afternoon, and the Rev. C. H. Fowler, D.D, since bishop, preached in the evening.

The church has had five pastors, including the one now in charge, viz .: Rev. George N. Pratt, Rev. George Crook, D.D. (now professor in the Drew The- ological Seminary, at Madison, New Jersey), Rev. Gideon Draper, D.D., Rev. George H. Cory, D.D., and Rev. J. Y. Bates.

ati

FR nto en Dei

-T 6

tor

302

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

The cost of the church edifice, exclusive of the lot and the church furniture, was $32,488,80, on which there remains an indebtedness of four thousand dol- lars. Recently the trustees have purchased a parson- age opposite the church. The present membership is one hundred and thirty.

EDUCATION .- There are three private boarding and day-schools in North Tarrytown,-two for boys and young men and one for girls and young ladies. There is besides a large public school on Beekman Avenne, under the care of a principal, Mr. Nathan H. Dn Mond, assisted by seven teachers,-two male and five female, -- in which tuition is given at publie expense to about five hundred and fifty children.

The private boarding and day-school for boys and young men, that has been for nearly half a century the most prominent and successful of its class, is the "Irving Institute." It was established in the spring of 1838 as a classical and commercial boarding- school. Its name is due to the interest manifested in the enterprise by Washington Irving. There is still in its archives a report of a committee of which Mr. Irving was chairman, testifying to its efficiency and valne as a place for the education of the young. Its founder was the late William P. Lyon, under whose care it was conducted for fifteen years until 1853, when the charge of it was assumed by David S. Rowe, A.M., who had been one of the earlier principals of the Massachusetts State Normal School, at Westfield. After eighteen years of successful labor as principal, Mr. Rowe transferred the school in 1871 to the charge of Rev. A. Armagnac, Ph. D., and David A. Rowe, A.M., under whose management, as joint principals, it is now conducted. It has had more than two thousand stu- dents since it was established, many of whom after- wards graduated from some one or another of the principal colleges of the country, and entered the learned professions. Several have attained to emi- nence as professors in New York, Princeton and other seats of learning. A large number have become sne- eessful merchants, and some have won distinction in public life. The school ocenpies two commodious buildings in a delightful situation on elevated grounds, with Pocantico Street on the west and Howard Street on the north, and presents many desirable features in addition to the facilities it affords for acquiring a good education.

The other boarding and day-school for boys and young men occupies the large building on Beekman Avenue, near Broadway, known as the Archer Van Tassel house, and bears the name of "Starr's Military Institute of Tarrytown." It was first established in Yonkers, in April, 1854, as the " Yonkers Commercial and Collegiate Institute," by Nathaniel Winthrop Starr, a graduate of Yale Col- lege. The military system was introduced in 1857, since which time it has been known as "Starr's Military Institute." It was removed in 1874 to Port Chester, in charge of Oliver Winthrop Starr, son of its

founder, who had been connected with it from the time of its beginning in Yonkers. It was again re- moved in 1883 to Tarrytown, first into the large build- ing in Windle Park, south of Main Street, and after- wards into the building where it now is, in the midst of ample grounds, on Beekman Avenue. Oliver Winthrop Starr is still its principal, with the advan- tage of having his father's co-operation as eonnselor and adviser. Its aim has been, like that of all kin- dred institutions, to prepare the young for the varied positions and activities of life, and the efforts put forth have been attended with a gratifying success. Its teachers and pupils worship in the Episcopal Church, though it was never designed to be a seeta- rian school.

Another school, which for over eleven years was prominent and did a good work for the cause of edu- cation in the community, was the Jackson Military Institute, held in the large building on Beekman Avenue, directly opposite the head of Cortlandt Street. It is the same building, enlarged and im- proved, that was oeenpied by the Irving Institute at the beginning of its career. The Jackson Military Institute was founded in Danbury, Conn., in 1857, by the Rev. Frederick J. Jackson, A.M., who removed it to North Tarrytown in April, 1869. Here, as in Danbury, it continued to flourish under his experienced manage- ment until June, 1880, when, owing to the death of his estimable wife and to the impaired health of hin- self and some of his family, he felt constrained to close it. A large number of young men were trained in this school for business and professional life. Of those who had been under its tuition at least ten were in the Union Army during the War of the Rebellion, and three of them lost their lives. Frank Brush was killed at Fort Fisher, Isaac Knapp fell in the Wildler- ness, and Leander Root was killed, though it is not known where. Commander Francis W. Dickens, of the United States Navy, was prepared in this school for the Naval Academy at Annapolis.

The Rev. Mr. Jackson died at the house opposite the Wayside Chapel, between Nyack and Piermont, on the west side of the Hudson River, on Saturday, December 26, 1885. Funeral services were held in the Second Reformed Church of Tarrytown, on Tues- day, the 29th, after which his remains were borne, by those who had formerly been his pupils, to their rest- ing place in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, to be laid be- side those of his beloved wife, Hannah Maria Glea- son, who died on Monday, October 28, 1878.

HOME INSTITUTE .-- The only boarding and day school in North Tarrytown for girls and young ladies is known as the " Home Institute." It is under the care of the Misses Metealt, by whom it was estab- lished in 1867. The school building is situated on College Avenne, immediately west of St. Mark's Episcopal Church, and it has facilities for the aceom- modation of eighteen boardersand twenty day scholars. The course of study is that usually adopted in schools

303

MOUNT PLEASANT.

of the kind. There is, however, a special course for those intending to enter Vassar or any other collegiate institution of that grade.

The public School of North Tarrytown, known as " Union Free School District No. 1," occupies the large brick building on the northeast corner of Po- eantico Street and Beekman Avenne. It was organ- ized as a Union Free School, July 14, 1856, with the following board of education : Rev. Abel T. Stewart, Amos R. Clark, Simon Shindler, Joseph H. Vail, Rev. Charles Burd and Win. E. Van Tassel. The Rev. Mr. Bard having removed from the place, David S. Rowe, A.M., principal of the Irving Institute, was chosen to till the vacaney. On April 21, 1859, it was resolved to purchase the present school site for the sum of fifteen hundred dollars, and the sum of four thousand dollars in addition was appropriated to the building of a new school house. The edifice having been completed, it was opened on January 3, 1860, with appropriate public exereises, in which several neighboring clergymen and prominent citizens took a part.

On November 14, 1876, the sum of seven thousand dollars was appropriated to building an addition to the school-honse, to be thirty by seventy feet. The building now affords a seating capacity for five hun- dred and fifty pupils, and the room is all occupied.

On November 28, 1876, the school was placed under the visitation of the Regents of the University, and in June, 1877, the advanced pupils were exam- ined in the Regents' questions by a committee acting in their name. Before the opening of the new build- ing in 1860 it had a succession of four principals. Since then it has had a succession of twelve princi- pals, the last of whom is Mr. Nathan H. Du Mond, who was appointed March 1, 1876, and still occupies the position. There are at present, in addition, seven teachers-two male and five female,

THE GENERAL STORMS MANSION-INTERESTING RELICS .- In Cortlandt Street, North Tarrytown, with its seven huge pillars supporting the roof of the piazza fronting the south, is the residence of the late Brigadier-General Henry Storms, so long connected with the military affairs of the State, and so untiring in his efforts to gather up and to preserveall memorials of American patriotism that might tend to foster the love of country, especially in the young. General Storms was born, of Huguenot extraction, in the city of New York on June 4, 1795, and died in North Tarrytown April 11, 1874. So early were his mili- tary tendencies developed that in the war of 1812, when he was only seventeen, his father had great difficulty in restraining him, an only son, from enter- ing the ranks and marching to the defense of his country. Later on he held a succession of public trusts, among them that of assistant alderman from the Twelfth Ward of New York City from 1826 to 1827, commissary-general of the State from 1842 to 1848, and inspector of State prisons from 1849 to 1852.

It was while in the last-named position that he ren- dered important aid toward the erection of the mont- ment on the spot where Andre was captured. (See under the head of Greenburgh.)

During Lafayette's visit to America, in 1824, Gen- eral Storms, then captain of the First Horse Artil- lery, escorted the nation's honored guest a consider- able distance on his way from New York to Boston. Among the relies which he warmly cherished was the flag borne by the military escort he commanded on that occasion. He had also three swords which he valued for their associations. One was a sword worn by Marshal Massena, so renowned, in the wars of z Napoleon. Another was that worn by General Scott at the battle of Lundy's Lane. The third was found on the field after the battle of Plattsburgh. Many eannon, guns and Revolutionary trophies were se- cured for public collection through his instrumen- tality. Among the curiosities in his late home is a ehair, still in good preservation, which was part of the first cargo from Buffalo that ever came through the Erie Canal, after it was formally opened on October 26, 1825, with celebrations and the firing of cannon along the route on the passage of the boat "Seneca Chief," bearing Governor De Witt Clinton and his suite from Buffalo to Albany.

But the most interesting of all the relics gathered by General Storms is an autograph letter of Wash- ington, in excellent condition, which has never yet been printed so far as the writer is aware. It is not in Sparks' collection, nor in any other he has been able to find. It is written on a large unruled sheet of the size of foolscap, and occupies the first and second pages. The third was originally left blank, but on it is now indorsed the statement-

" This original letter of General Washington, presented by Ilon. Fred- erick A. Tallmadge, Recorder of the City of New York, to Brigadier- General Henry Storms, on the 25th day of November, 1815, (Evacuation Day) on the occasion of the Dedication of the new Trophy Building at the Arsenal New York City.

"HENRY STORMS, Brigadier-General."

The fourth page is blank, except the direction and the endorsement, apparently of the person who re- eeived it. When folded up in letter form, the ad- dress on the back evidently in Washington's hand writing, reads thus :

" MAJOR TALMADGE, at Ridgheld, "Go. Washington."

It is endorsed on the fourth page,-

" Gen! Washington's Letter, July 25, 1779, reed July 28, 1779."

General Storms had the letter spread out and framed in mahogany between two plates of glass, with a silk border of red, white and blue, so that both sides of the leaf could be easily read and examined. The letter is now the property of General Storms' daughter, Miss Eliza M. Storms, who has kindly allowed a copy to be taken and published in this history. The fol- lowing is an exaet transcript of the letter :

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 73

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