History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II, Part 81

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 81

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Thethird and most destructive flood of all occurred on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, Septem- ber 4 and 5, 1878. The damage was estimated at not less than fifteen thousand dollars. A boy, standing at the time on "Westchester Bridge," was swept

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away by the torrent and drowned, in consequence of a portion of this brick structure having been under- mined by the current.

FACILITIES FOR TRAVELING .- The New York Central and Hudson River Railroad is the chief route by which the people of the town of Ossining go out to the world, and by which the world comes into the town. Regular commuters are taken to or from New York City for the small sum of twenty-five cents; while the casual traveler is required to pay sixty eents. The total number of tickets to and from New York City which were sold at our station during the past year, from May 1, 1884, to April 30, 1885, was 70,295. These do not include the books of com- muters, nor the tickets from New York to Sing Sing, which were sold at the Grand Central Depot, during the same time. Besides the above, many thousands of tickets are sold aunually at our station for places along the whole line of the road, and elsewhere. Thus it is seen that our place ought to be well-known be- yond its immediate limits, and yet one of the flattest and stalest of jokes which is continually perpetrated on our citizens by outsiders is to say, when one of our people is seen away from our village, "Ah! you have escaped, or been released from State's Pris- on, have you ?" The New York papers will probably never cease to say that such and such villains, bur- glars, or murderers, have been sentenced to live in Sing Sing; never distinguishing between the prison and the village; even the existence of the latter they seem to be totally ignorant of. The trains are fre- quent and very satisfactory, The residents of the eastern portion of the town are accommodated by the New York and Northern Railroad. In summer, steamboats and propellers afford a pleasant means of going to and from the city.

Sing Sing is supplied with most of the modern im- provements,-telegraphs, telephones, skating-rink, canoeing club, ice-boating fleet, good postal arrange- ments, McAdamized roads, street gas lamps, etc. What it stands sadly in need of is an extensive and efficient system of sewerage, an ample supply of pure water and the total abolishment of cesspools.

THE PRESBYTERIAN BURYING-GROUND AT SPAR- TA is located between the old Albany turnpike and the present direct road from Sing Sing to Tarrytown. It contains about two acres of land. It was originally allotted to the Presbyterian Church by Frederick Philips, lord of the Philips Manor. This manor having been confiscated at the close of the Revolu- tion, the Sparta Cemetery was excepted from sale by the Commissioners of Forfeitures. On the 14th day of March, 1808, the Legislature passed an act granting "all the right, title and interest " of these grounds to the trustees of the Presbyterian Church of Mount Pleasant, forever. For a more detailed history of the above, the reader is referred to the historical sketch of the Presbyterian Church of Sing Sing, by the Rev. Dr. Phraner. It was for a long time sadly neglected, ii .- 32

and became overgrown with briars and tangle-wood, but of late, through the laudable efforts of Mr. John V. Cockroft and others of the Presbyterian Church, it has been put in very good condition.

These old grounds contain many interesting memo- rials of the old town folk of this neighborhood. Space will not admit of quoting from any of the antique brown-stone slabs, except the following of the Ledew family, beginning with the head-stone at the south side of the brick inclosure. There is a hole in the head- stonc over Abraham Ledew's grave, which tradition tells us, was made by a eannon-ball fired from the " Vulture," while at anchor in the bay waiting for - Major Andre.

In Memory of Mary Ledew Was Born In the Year of Our Lord 1695 And Departed this Life May the 10, 1773, Aged 78 Years.

In memory of David Ledew, Was Born In the Year of our Lord 1694. And Departed this Life Novr. the 15 1772 Aged 78 years.

Here Lyes the Body of Sarah Ledew Born in the Year 1759 April 26 Who Departed this Life August 15, 1764, Aged 5 Years 7 Months & 11 Days Danghter of Abraham Ledew and Ann Ledew.

To the Memory of Abraham Ladew, Son

of Abraham and Ann Ladew Was Born A. D. September the 28th 1767, and Departed

This Life Oct. the 21st 1774 aged 7 years. Ilere stop awhile ; let pity draw The sympathising tear. If old thou art prepared to die If young-thyself in virtno train. Here lies a son, and only son and heir ;

He lived admired and while he lived Him good and just we hoped to see,

But death our hopes deceived Here all our joy and comfort lies.

llere lies our only darling son,- He fell to death a sacrifice

Scarce had his glass begun to run : His soul is flown to mansions of the just- To that great God in whom we weep and trust.

In Memory of Anna Ladew, wife of Abraham Ladew who Departed this Life Dec. 25, 1795, Aged 6x Years 10 Months 25 Days Also Abraham Ladew Husband of Anna Laddew who departed this Life June 12, 17 Aged -- Years 4 Mos & 15 Days .;

(A number of lines of poetry then follow.)

DALE CEMETERY is located just outside of the northern portion of the village of Sing Sing, and cm- braces abont thirty acres of land. The Dale Ceme- tery Association was organized in January, 1851, by the clection of twelve trustees,-Gen. Aaron Ward

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president ; Mr. Marlborough Churchill, Vice Presi- dent ; Gen. Munson 1. Loekwood, treasurer; and Mr. Geo. E. Stanton, secretary. The cemetery, at the time of its dedication, October 29, 1851, contained about forty acres, but was subsequently, through legal com- plieations with Gen. Lockwood, reduced to its present size. .

The location is delightful. The surface is very un- even, forming beautiful rounded knolls, terraced hill- sides and winding valleys, with shady groves and babbling brook; it is sufficiently conspicuous and sequestered in its various parts to please the tastes of all classes of persons. The grand entrance on the western side is through a pair of round, lofty, massive marble columns, surmounted by globular heads. These pillars were quarried and hewn at the prison, for the old French Church in New York City, but for some cause were not taken away. Just within this entrance stands a shaft of red granite, ereeted to the memory of George W. and Bartow W. Powell, Jr., the brothers in whose honor Post Powell, No. 117, G. A. R., of Sing Sing, was named.

The usual entrance to the cemetery is by way of Dale Avenue, on the castern side. The first inter- ment in these grounds was the bones of Lieutenant Samuel Young, who was born December 4, 1760, and died September 12, 1837. He served in the American army in the War of the Revolution, was subsequently a member of the State Legislature and surrogate of Westchester County. His remains were brought to Dale Cemetery from their original resting- place in the grounds of the "Old Dutch Church," where they should have been permitted to remain un- molested. Samuel Young is said to have been the actual " Ichabod Crane " of Irving's "Legend of Sleepy Hollow."

Dale Cemetery, though but a little more than thirty years established, is beautified by many hand- some and costly tombs and monuments. The roads and grounds are fairly well kept, and the place is creditable to an enlightened community.

SPARTA .- In the earliest times farmers brought their produce for shipment to a doek which stood in the eove a short distance north of Searborough station. The road which came down to the dock ran past a store-house not far from the water's edge. 1 short distance north of the dock, near the mouth of Sparta Brook, on the southern bank of the stream, was a grist-mill, which was run by the water-power furnished by the brook. Of this old doek-the primi- tive doek of the town of Ossining-there remains at present only one large log, which lies on the shore of the cove.

The village of Sparta, situated about a mile south of Pleasant Square, in Sing Sing, was settled by an English colony about the year 1790. James Drowley, an English merchant of New York and an importer of dry-goods, purchased from the patent of l'eter Davids a tract of twenty-nine acres of land, located

on the northern side of the lower course of the brook now known as Sparta Brook, and divided it into plots of three hundred feet square. Afterwards he brought over in his vessels from County Kent, England, a number of his former neighbors, with whom he be- gan the settlement of his village. Thomas Agate be- came the storekeeper of the littl community, Edward Agate was the brickmaker, Richard Hillier was the physician and the Rev. John Burgess was the elergy- man. There were besides the Rhodes, the Priestlys and others, whose names are perpetuated in Sparta, where some of their descendants still live. Why this little place should have received so classical a name is not at present known. It now contains only about a score of dwellings, one store and a very nice school- house. Sing Sing has crept quite down to the bor- ders of Sparta, making a continuous village from Mr. Benjamin Moore's residence on the north to Mr. George Arthur's on the south, a distance of over two miles. There was onee a time when Sparta threat- ened to be the principal village, and it certainly had some important advantages over its rival, Sing Sing, in being less hilly, and having deeper water near its shores.

THE BAPTIST CHURCH IN SING SING owes its early establishment largely to the efforts of Captain Elijalı Hunter, who was born at this place in the year 1749. He was a Revolutionary soldier and was present at the battle of White Plains. He suffered mueh on account of his adhesion to the cause of liberty. The British finally burned his home at Bedford. About the year 1783 he came to reside in Sing Sing, and at once opened his own house for public worship. He invited the Rev. Ebenezer Ferris, pastor of the Baptist Church at Stamford, of which Captain Hunter was a member, to conduct the services. Elder Ferris began his work on the 20th of August, 1786, at which time he baptized three persons, who became members of the Stamford Church. These, uniting with a few others, were recognized as a branch of that church. Elder Ferris met with them onee a month and added many members. In 1788 thirty-three of their num- ber organized the Baptist Church of Yorktown, with the Rev. Renben Garrison as pastor.

On the 12th of November, 1790, the Baptist Church of Sing Sing was formally organized as an independent body. James Requa, Elijah Hunter and Richard Garrison were elected deacons. The church com- menced with thirty members. It soon received con- siderable accessions to its numbers, not a few of whom were the slaves of the members. Captain Hunter's house was located not far from where the Robinson or Jones mansion now stands, and what is How Broad Avenue was then Hunter's lane, which led from his house to the Post road. Here it was that the meetings were held until the first church was built. The ground upon which a small frame building was erected is the same that the present church now stands upon, and was deeded to the so-

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ciety as a free gift, in perpetuity, by Captain Hun- ter, whose name is still associated with portions of this village. It is only a few years since a small cemetery existed in State Street, being the chief por- tion of Mr. Mullholland's grounds, known as " Hun- ter's Burying-Ground," and there is a street running from Main Street to the prison now bearing the name of this liberal and distinguished citizen of that early day.

In the year 1792, the year after the New York As- sociation of Baptist Churches was formed, some of the brethren of the Sing Sing Church suggested the establishment of an academy in this vicinity for the education of young men for the ministry. The design was cordially approved. This was probably the first effort made to establish a Baptist Theological Semi- nary in this country. In 1797 the association com- mended the academy to the churches. In 1798 they drew up a constitution for it, and appointed a board of thirteen trustees. The academy was not a success. In 1801 the Rev. Stephen S. Nelson bought it and conducted it with great satisfaction to all. Francis Wayland was one of the most distinguished pupils. In 1795 or 1796 the Rev. John Kitchen, an English- man, was called to take charge of the church. In 1799 Rev. Elijah Wheeler, of Oyster Bay, supplied the church. The Rev. Thomas Stephens followed in 1801. In December of the same year Rev. Stephen S. Nelson, already referred to as having purchased the old academy, became the pastor of the church, and re- tained the position for not less than a dozen years. The church prospered under his care, as he was a man of sterling qualities and of unusual culture, being a graduate of Brown University in 1794. He left Sing Sing in 1813, and died at Amherst, Mass., in 1852, aged eighty-two years.

In May, 1814, the Rev. Jacob H. Brouner, then in his twenty-third year, became the pastor of this church. Under his charge the membership was in- creased from fifty-five to seventy-five. In 1823 the Rev. P. L. Platt accepted the pastorate. He distin- guished himself by his efforts to suppress the sale of intoxicating liquors on Sunday by the members of the church. The Rev. John Putress (Bolton has the name Pubies) was chosen pastor in 1833. He was succeeded in 1835 by Rev. C. C. Williams, who, with- in one year, was the means of converting twenty per- sons who were added to the church. In 1839 the Rev. Wm. M. Doolittle was called to minister to this church. His labors were greatly blessed, the mem- bership was raised from sixty-four to one hundred and thirty-one. Next came the Rev. Sydney A. Corey. Love, unity and charity had not always filled the hearts of the Baptist brethren, as all the above changes would intimate, and the chronieler goes on to state that he, too, " fell upon like evil times, and the feeling ran so high that an effort was made to shut the house of worship against the pastor and a portion of his flock. The discord arose from differ- ences of opinion on doctrinal points." Hence Mr.

Corey's stay was also brief. After a temporary sup- ply by Rev. M. J. Kelly, in 1843, the Rev. Wm. C. Locke took charge for a few months. In 1844 the Rev. B. C. Morse followed, under whose ministration, we are told, the church was more peaceful and har- monions than in many years before. Mr. Morse was succeeded in 1848 by Rev. Alonzo Wheelock, who was followed in 1850 by Rev. Wm. S. Mikels. He was a plain, earnest, sterling man. His six years of labor were crowned by the addition of many mem- bers, raising the list from one hundred and twenty- eight to two hundred and seven. A parsonage was also built during his charge.

The Rev. R. J. W. Buckland became the pastor in January, 1857, and held the position until March, 1864. He was a man of scholarly accomplishments and of eminent ability, to which were joined all the Christian graces. He went from Sing Sing to New York City to take charge of the Calvary Baptist Church ; from this position he was called to fill the chair of ecclesiastical history in the Theological Seminary at Rochester N. Y., where he remained until the time of his death. He was deservedly honored with the title of Doctor of Divinity.

The Rev. L. J. Mattison next became the pastor of this church of many pastors. He entered upon his duties in October, 1864, and remained until Novem- ber, 1868. He was a graduate of Madison University. He was a man of ability, of kindly disposition and of devotion to his work. From this place he went to Vermont, and tlrenee to Cortland County, N. Y., where he was settled over a church, and where he prematurely died. In March 1869, the Rev. James Boxer took charge of the church, and remained until June, 1874. In 1871 the subject of ere ting a new church edifice engaged the attention of pastor and people. Messrs. D. D. Mangam, I. B. Noxon and William A. Pentz were appointed the building com- mittee. The pleasant little white wooden church building, which for generations had stood embowercd in a beautiful grove of loeust-trees, with here and there a lofty giant sycamore, was torn down, the trees destroyed, the bones of "the rude forefathers of the hamlet were dug from their narrow cells, and where lay the turf in many a mouldering heap" it was leveled to a smooth lawn, and all so changed that no old resident would be able to recognize the spot. While all this was going on the congregation eon- vened in Olive Hall for a period of two years. At the end of this time, that is, in June, 1873, the chapel forming the transept of the new church edifice was ready for occupancy. In the following year the entire building was completed, and dedicated June, 3, 1874. The Baptist Church is a handsome brick structure, with roof of slate and beautiful stained- glass windows, inost of which are memorials of former patrons of the church, one being in memory of Captain Hunter, the founder of the organization. It was a fitting and a gracious act to keep the recollec-

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tion of so good and generous a man in fresh remem- brance. The church was built with a handsome lofty spire, which kept its place until the first furious wind- storm came, and then it humbled itself in the dust, never to rise again. The grounds are surrounded with a neat, substantial wrought-iron rail and good stone walks. A large fine organ, rich carving and good painting make the interior very pleasing.

The cost of all this was, in round numbers, sixty thousand dollars.

The pastorate of Mr. Boxer was not characterized by unalloyed sweetness and harmony. He possessed no little talent and not a few eccentricities.

His successor, the Rev. A. D). Gillette, D.D., was a gentleman of refinement and scholastic culture. He entered upon his duties in December, 1874, and closed hi+ labors here in December, 1878. He was born in 1807. He had filled several important pulpits in New York, Brooklyn, Philadelphia and in Washing- ton before he came to Sing Sing, and enjoyed an ex- alted reputation as a scholar and an eloquent preacher. He was sixty-four years of age when he began his work in this village, and at the end of four years his powers declined, and he retired from his labors, never again to resume them.

Now we come to the end of this long line of Bap- tist clergymen. The present pastor, the Rev. N. Reed Everts, assumed charge of this church iu De- cember, 1878. He brought the reputation of an earnest Christian scholar and an eloquent and fluent preacher, all of which he has fully sustained during his seven years of pastoral work in Sing Sing.

The church has a membership of nearly three hun- dred, and the present roll of its Sabbath-school contains the names of no less than two hundred and fifty officers, teachers and scholars.

THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH .- At a meeting of the Dutchess County Presbytery, held at Bedford, June 28, 1763, a petition, signed by a number of the inhabitants of Sing Sing, was laid before that body, requesting Presbytery to supply them with the stated and regular preaching of the Gospel, whereupon Presbytery appointed Rev. Mr. Smith to supply them on the first Sabbaths of August and October, and Rev. Mr. Peck to supply them on the first Sabbath of September.

Such is the first minute on record as to the origin and early history of this church. At various times, onward until the year 1768, we find the people of Sing Sing making application to the Presbytery above named to provide them with religions services, un- til at a meeting of Presbytery held at Salem, West- chester Connty, on the 30th day of August, 1768, we find an application from a joint committee appointed by the congregations of White Plains and Sing Sing, asking advice from Presbytery as to the proper person to preach alternately at the above-named places, " with a view to settling among them in the Gospel ministry."

This is the first reference which we can find of a congregation being gathered in Sing Sing, or of the people acting together in their united capacity as such, and hence we date from this period the organi- zation of the church in this place. This was August 30, 1768. At that date Rev. Ichabod Lewis became the successor of Rev. John Smith in the churches of White Plains and Sing Sing. (Gillett's History, vol. i. p. 379.)

At or near this time the first church edifice was erected, having for its site what is now known as the "old burying-ground " at Sparta, about one and a half miles to the south of the village of Sing Sing.

The land upon which the church was built was originally giveu by Colonel Phillips, the proprietor of the manor extending from Kingsbridge to the Croton River.

Abraham de Revicre, the historian of the church of Phillipsburgh. i. e., the Dutch Church of Tarry- town-makes this reference to the history of the grant. viz .: "That in 1680 it pleased his royal majesty of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, defender of the faith, to grant by prerogative, consent and license to the Honorable Vredryck Flypse, to freely buy to or in a sale of estate in the County of Westchester in America, beginning at the place of Spurten Dnyvel Kill and running north along the river to and on the Kill of Kitch-a-Wong (now Croton River, etc.), as in the license and patent contained, which is called Phillipsburg, and that Lord Flypse contract to let any one settle on said land free, for certain stipulated years, in order that it may as soon as possible be cul- tivated and settled.“

The site upon which the church was originally built, comprising about three acres, was set apart and donated by Colonel Phillips for the use of a church, and when, after the War of the Revolution, the whole manor property was confiscated and sold by a com- mittec, appointed by the Legislature, consisting of General Van Courtlandt, Isaac Stoutenburgh and one other person, the laud held and occupied for church and burial purposes was explicitly reserved from sale, and the claim of the church thereto fully recognized and confirmed.

The following is the copy of an act passed March 18, 1808, confirming the title of the church to the property above named, and which had been occupied for church purposes previons to the war of the Revo- Intion : " Be it enacted by the people of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, that all the right, title and interest of the people of this State in and to a certain lot of ground heretofore al- lotted by Frederick Phillips, to the Trustees of the Presbyterian Church and congregation of the Town of Mount Pleasant, in the county of Westchester, be and the same is hereby vested in said Trustees and their successors for the use of said church and congregation forever."

The church edifice, which had been much injured

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during the war, was repaired in 1788, and coutinned to be occupied as a place of worship until A. D. 1800, at which time it was deemed expedient to re- move the church to this village.

In 1798 Colonel Moses Ward had offered a lot on Pleasant Square, upon condition that the church should be removed to Sing Sing. After earnest discussion the church and congregation resolved to accept the offer of Colonel Ward, and in the year 1800 a church edifice was built upon the lot which had been given by him for that purpose.

In the edifice then built the congregation contin- ued to worship until the year 1834, at which time the building still standing on Pleasant Square, and occu- pied by Trinity Church, was crected under the super- vision of a building committee, composed of Messrs. Samuel Trowbridge, Clark Runyon, Russel Barnum, Henry Harris and William Jennison.

In the year 1868, necessity being felt for larger and better accommodations for religious worship, the con- gregation entered upon the work of erecting the edi- fice which it now occupies on Highland Avenue. As early as the beginning of the year 1866 the trustees of the church had been anthorized by the congrega- tion to purchase a suitable site for a new church edifice, and also to procure plans and approx- imate estimates of the cost of an edifice of sufficient size to meet the needs of the congregation. As the result of this action, the site of the present building, corner of Highland Avenue and Mott Street, was purchased, and at a meeting of the congregation sub- sequently held the following persons were appointed a committee to superintend the erection of a new church edifice, viz .: Messrs. Peter Rennie, Charles F. Maurice, Edward D. Truesdell, Russel Barnum, Stephen Todd and Jesse H. Platt. To these, who were the trustees of the church, the following persons were added from the congregation, viz .: Messrs. Gay- lord B. Hubbell, Stephen G. Howe and Theodore Mace, together with the pastor. Mr. Mace having removed from the town before the building was com- pleted, Mr. George Douglass was elected to fill his place, and Mr. Rennie having been removed by death, Mr. Sumner R. Stone was chosen as trustee of the church and a member of the building committec. Dr. George J. Fisher was also elected to fill a vacancy which occurred in the board of trustees, and so be- canie a member of the building committee.

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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 81

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