USA > New York > Tompkins County > Ithaca > History of the First Presbyterian church of Ithaca, New York, during one hundred years : the anniversary exercises, January twenty-first to twenty-fourth, 1904 > Part 3
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But,-we have gotten beyond our story !
The meeting for the incorporation of the South Presbyterian Church of Ulysses was held "in the south part of Ulysses, at or near the head of Cayuga Lake, on Monday, the 4th day of May, 1807, at the school house on Basket Hill," and chose the following Trustees : Thomas Martin and Francis King of the first class, Cornelius Linderman and Jacob Yaple of the second
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HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
class, Solomon Middajh and John Dumond of the third class; certificate of incorporation being signed by Francis King and George Brink and recorded in the office of the Clerk of the County of Seneca. The first election of the Trustees was held on March 5th, 1808, at the school house on Basket Hill.
"On December 31st, 1815, a meeting of the inhabitants of the South Presbyterian Society in the Town of Ulysses, held at the school house in the Village of Ithaca, Rev. Gerrit Mandeville was granted leave to apply to Presbytery for his dismissal." At the same meeting it was "Resolved, that a committee be appointed to inquire into the expediency of making immediate preparations for building a meeting house in said Society." The committee appointed were Luther Geer, David Woodcock, William R. Collins. On January 8th, 1816, the committee reported that a house 48 by 58 could be built as sketched for $4000, and the committee further reported that they have no doubt $4000 may be raised in the village and $3000 more in its vicinity, and expressed their opinion that a contract may be made to finish said house in two seasons.
Subscription papers were forthwith circulated on east hill, west hill, south hill, and in the village. They read :
"WHEREAS, the Village of Ithaca and its vicinity has heretofore been destitute of any suita- ble or convenient house for publick Worship, and Whereas a spacious and convenient house for publick Worship in the said village of Ithaca suitably supplyed by a pious and reputable Clergyman would add much to the respectability and Character of the village and neighbor- hood, inhance the value of property, promote social order, Improve the minds and morals of the Inhabitants and be the means of laying a permanent foundation for religious and Morral Instruction, Under these impressions it has been proposed to build a meeting house in the said village of Ithaca in length fifty eight feet and in breadth forty eight feet with a portico in front ; We therefore whose Names are hereto subscribed promise to pay to Luther Geer, David Woodcock, and William R. Collins, (a committee to superintend the build'g said house), the sums by us respectively subscribed for the purpose of building a meeting house in said village, to be paid in manner following to wit one fourth part the first day of June next, and one fourth part at the end of each succeeding six months thereafter and we further agree that whenever and as soon as a Contract shall have been made and executed for the building said house to Give to the Contractor or to the said Luther Geer, David Woodcock, and William R. Collins our respective notes or Bonds for the sums by us respectively subscribed payable as aforesaid. And it is further understood and agreed that the pews of said meeting house shall hereafter be sold And that the several and respective subscribers hereto who shall purchase pews in said house shall have the right to apply the amount of their respective subscriptions to the payment for such pew or pews as they shall respectively purchase as aforesaid. Ithaca Jany 10th, 1816."
We still have the original subscription papers ; upon them are the names of many whose families continued for years to be identified with this Church. Many of the notes given in payment of these subscriptions and accepted by the builder and discounted by him, also a number of the deeds for the pews, and the builder's contract and specifications, with several reports of the
THE FIRST EDIFICE ERECTED 1816 -+- E ENLARGED 1826 -+ RAZED 1853
THE SESSION HOUSE ERECTED 1830 --- REMOVED 1864
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HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
building committee are also in possession of the Church, and are on exhibi- tion in the chapel during this anniversary week.
On January Ist, 1818, the building committee surrendered to the Trustees the meeting house completed according to contract, and the church was " dedicated by a sermon by the Pastor in the presence an overflowing con- gregation." The report given by the building committee on January Ist, 1818, included the following statement :
" And the said building committee rendered an account of all moneys by them paid out in erecting said building and purchasing and improving the ground, and also of all moneys received by them arising from the sale of pews as follows : The total revenue as stated was $8,789. The highest price for a pew being paid by Luther Geer for pew No. 1, $430."
There seem to have been forty pews on the floor of the church and sixteen in the gallery. The expenditures included $7,391.50 paid Ira Tillotson for building the meeting house, and $658.40 for lots for " public square," and sundry other expenditures to balance. The grading of this " public square " cost the considerable sum of $247 paid to Captain John Denton, besides the voluntary aid given in response to this notice which appeared in the American Journal, Oct. 15, 1817 (vol. I, no. 9 ; a single number on file in the Cornell Library)-
" Those persons who feel disposed to assist in leveling the ground in front of the meeting- house in this village will come in companies, half companies, pairs, and single, with teams, shovels, spades, hoes, etc., tomorrow, to meet at the Columbian Inn at nine o'clock in the morning. Suitable rations will be provided."
This " public square " is now named DeWitt Park, in honor of Ithaca's founder. The Park is the property of this Church ; but it was not a gift fromn General Simeon DeWitt, as has sometimes mistakenly been asserted. Indeed, the report of the building committee that $164.75 had been refunded by the Church to those who originally made part payment for the lots, and $499.65 had been paid to General DeWitt for the same together " with in- terest front Aug. Ist, 1815, at fourteen per cent," and the final accounting and receipt of General DeWitt, wherein he accepts the note given by his brother-in-law, William Linn, for his pew,-the whole statement being in the handwriting of General DeWitt, (and now on exhibition in the chapel),- abundantly prove that this whole plot of ground cost the Presbyterians a goodly sum of money. Moreover, in connection with the erection of the second edifice, on July 13th, 1853, William R. Collins made affidavit, which is entered in full upon the Trustees' records, covering the following facts :
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HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
"The Trustees of the South Presbyterian Church in Ulysses (now Ithaca), acquired title to lots No. 80, 81, 82, 83, 159, 160 and 161 as follows : General Simeon DeWitt, late of Albany, deceased, was the owner of said lots when this deponent first became acquainted in said village (affidavit states that he resided in Ithaca from 1805 until 1842). Lots 82, 83, 160 and 161 were originally taken up by said Collins, he agreeing to pay Gen. DeWitt for the same the sum of $500. Soon after he took up said lots, he associated with him Henry Ackley, J. and A. S. Johnson, Ben Johnson, Drake and Clark, John C. Hayt and several others, who helped pay for said lots and afterwards he and they released their interest in said lots to the said Presby- terian Church and received from said Church the money which they respectively had paid toward said lots, and the said Church paid to Gen. De Witt the balance of the purchase money and interest thereon, being at the time the sum as paid, $458.65. The affidavit further states that before taking up said lots as above stated, Gen. De Witt had given to the said Church the south half of two lots, on which the Academy in said village is now situated, and the north half of said two lots to the public for schools ; that after Mr. Collins and his associates had re- leased to the said Church the lots taken by them, Gen. DeWitt proposed to said Collins as one of the Trustees of said Church that if said Church would consent to give up the said south half of the two lots before mentioned to him, he would give the same to the Academy and would give to the said Church in exchange therefor Lots No. 80, 81 and 159. The Trustees
EAST MILL STREET
NORTH CAYUGA STREET
Lot
Lot
Lot
Court
161
160
159
House
Lot
Lot
Lot
Lot
83
82
81
80
EAST BUFFALO STREET
accepted and exchange was made. At the time of such exchange lots 80, 81 and 159 were valued by Gen. DeWitt at $100 each, and in the opinion of this deponent the lot given in exchange for them was then worth $1,000 or more. The Trustees of said Church were induced to make the exchange from the consideration that the Academy would be benefitted and the lots belonging to the Church would thereby be in a body together. Afterward Gen. DeWitt gave to the Trustees of the said Church a deed* for the said seven lots ; the conditions and provisions contained in said deed were not dictated by Gen. DeWitt, but were inserted therein at the sug- gestion and direction of this deponent as a Trustee of said Church, and for the purpose of car- rying out the original intention of this deponent and his associates in the purchase of the four lots taken up by him."
* BRIEF OF DEED GIVEN BY SIMEON DEWITT under date September 25th, 1826, which deed ap- pears in full on pages 15 and 16 of Church Trustees' record. Deed conveys to the Trustees of the South Presbyterian Church in Ulysses (now Ithaca), consideration $1.00. Property con- veyed, Lots No. 80, 81, 82, 83, 159, 160 and 161. Said deed stipulates " as to such part of the said premises as are now occupied or covered by the church or house of worship of the said par-
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HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
There is in Mr. Wisner's writing a long and circumstantial account to the effect that, towards the close of the year 1818, a part of his people became restive under his preaching ; two of the prominent members of the congre- gation at a private interview complained to him of his doctrines, and told him frankly that they could endure them no longer. He inquired if he had not faithfully carried out the system of doctrines which he told them before he accepted their call they must expect if lie settled among them. They admitted that he had, but insisted that his Calvinistic meat was too strong for them and they could bear it no longer. But the doctrines against which they objected were to him cardinal and fundamental truths ; " he should be recreant in his duty to God and to his people if he withheld them." This interview seemed to quiet the troubled waters for a short time, but in Janu- ary, 1819, while he was absent labouring with the vacant Church in Trumansburg, they notified the Trustees that they, with twelve others, would withdraw their support from the society unless there could be a change in the minister. Mr. Wisner was brought home from Trumansburg in a wagon, ill with a violent fever ; his Elders informed him of what had occurred, and told him they could not raise his salary without the aid of these men ; what should they do? "As he had regularly remitted about $300 a year of the $800 mentioned in his call, and the remaining $500 was paid very irregularly, he told them they had better unite with him in a request to have the pastoral relation dissolved." They took the advice and consulted Presbytery ; but, as he was dangerously ill, Presbytery refused to act until his recovery. He grew much worse and his life was despaired of.
"In this extremity the Lord withdrew the light of His countenance, and his mind, which had been rather gloomy from his first attack, became utterly dark to everything but the holy strictness of the divine law and his own great wickedness .. . He utterly gave up his hope and felt that he was a lost sinner going in a few hours to the judgment seat of a Right-
ties of the second part and of the land lying north of a line drawn due east and west from the south end of said church across said premises to the use, benefit and behoof of the said parties of the second part, and also necessary and convenient rights of way to and from said church as fully and perfectly as the same are now enjoyed, and provided that no other building shall be erected on such premises than a session house between the church and court house as an ap- pendage to said church, such renewal and enlargement of said church as may hereafter become necessary, and as to the residue of the said premises, to the use, benefit and behoof of the said parties of the second part and their successors as a public walk and promenade, provided al- ways and these presents are, upon this express condition that the said premises situated south of the said line drawn east and west from the south end of said church be at all times kept as a public walk and promenade, and that no houses or other buildings, except ornamental improve- ments, be erected or made thereon, and that no dead bodies be interred therein." Signed by Simeon DeWitt. Acknowledged before A. D. W. Bruyn, first Judge of the County of Tomp- kins, and recorded in the Clerk's office of said County on the 26th day of September, 1826, at six o'clock, A. M. in Book K of Deeds, page 184.
2
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HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
eous God, without a Saviour. . From the borders of absolute despair he called on the name of the Lord, and the dark cloud which had enveloped his soul divided, and the Sun of Righteousness arose with healing in His beams. The transition was as great as it was sudden. The darkness of despair was succeeded by the joy and peace of believing. His pious physician was just leaving the room to get a few Christian friends to pray for their dying Pastor as the gracious Redeemer appeared to His despairing child, and the Doctor was called back to unite with his apparently dying patient in thanksgiving and praise to God for His great salvation." He suffered a relapse, but the crisis passed, and he began slowly to recover. "He considers this the most gracious visitation of his whole life, and feels that the dealings of God with him during this sore sickness taught him more of the evil and the bitter nature of sin, and of the riches of divine goodness and the preciousness of Christ than he could ever have learned in any other way. The condition of sinners never appeared to him so fearful as after this discip- line. He could feel that they stood on slippery places in darkness." As soon as he was able to give directions to his friends he disposed of his house and lot, which he had bought a year previous, and made arrangements to remove his family to his father's residence in Elmira. The first of March he was carried on a bed thirty-six miles to the paternal home. Almost immediately his wife and eldest daughter were taken down with the fever which had brought him so low. But they recovered, and his own health improved so that he was able to ride to Ithaca to attend the meeting of Presbytery in May. When his case was called up it appeared that his Church had reconsidered their resolution to unite with him in asking for a dissolution, and now opposed his dismission. "They had always loved their Pastor and were perfectly united in him ; the congregation, too, with the exception of the fourteen malcontents, were all pleased with his ministrations, and the consent to his leaving them had been given under the impression that they would not be able to raise his support. But when they came to look seriously at the consequences of yielding to a few men, who were opposed to him only for the faithfulness of his preaching, they determined to make up the deficiency in the subscription " ! Under the changed circumstances he was persuaded to return to his Ithaca charge.
On May 25th, 1825, "in order to build up the Redeemer's kingdom," twelve Village Districts were marked out, an officer of the Church being in charge of each. This plan helped to develop and hold the interest of the large outlying constituency of the Church which then, and for many years, attended and manifested an active interest in the Church. August 25th, 1826, the record is : "Ordered, that the Church over which this Session pre- sides be called together at the Court House in this place on Wednesday next at two o'clock P. M. for prayer and self examination, and to devise ways and means for glorifying God and saving the souls of men." Was it not in answer to this and similar earnest prayer by the other Churches of the vil- lage, that, as recorded in the history of one of our sister Churches, during the winter of 1826-27 " Religion was the topic of conversation on the street corners ; prayer meetings were extemporized in stores, kitchens, and yards. At all hours the voice of strong crying and supplication was heard. One could not walk the street at midnight or at earliest morning without being reminded of the one theme, salvation. Thanksgiving Day, 1826, was like the quietest Sunday, so general was the solemn feeling."
An act to change the name of the South Presbyterian Church in the Town of Ulysses passed March 23rd, 1827, the new name being "The First
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HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
Presbyterian Church of Ithaca." Several changes suggested by this act are worthy of note. At the date of the first settlement here this was a part of Onondaga Co., then of the newly set-off Cayuga Co., then of Seneca Co., until 1817 when Tompkins Co. was set off. Until 1821 this was a part of the Town of Ulysses, when it was named the Town of Ithaca. A branch of the Newburgh Bank was established here in 1819, with a capital of $70,000. It was afterwards merged into the Bank of Ithaca, incorporated in 1829. The Tompkins County Bank was incorporated in 1836. The Erie Canal, begun in 1817, was completed in 1825. Before that, over the Catskill Turn- pike, cattle were driven to Philadelphia, potash was shipped to New York or Montreal, wheat to Owego and thence down the Susquehanna to Balti- more. Now, the canal became the great artery of commerce.
A Methodist Church had been organized here in 1819. Prior to that time itinerant Methodist preachers had occasionally held services ; indeed it is claimed they were the first on the ground, and that the McDowal* family (the fourth family of settlers), though originally Presbyterian, readily became good Methodists in order to aid the work of these itinerant evangelists; if this be so, it is the first of a series of good turns we are glad to have been able to do for our brethren, and of stimuli they have given us. The Epis- copal Church was organized in 1824, the Baptist in 1829-30; the Dutch Re- formed in 1830. Regarding the latter it is of interest to know that, the Presbyterian Church having by this time grown to a membership of nearly 800, Dr. Wisner planned to have another Presbyterian Church formed ; he divided his membership into two provisional lists ; perhaps unconsciously, he kept most of the best workers on his own list,-at least so it seemed to some of the others ; the division did not take place as he had planned ; thirty-one members of this Church were given regular letters of dismission, and others in the village joined with them to form the new organization ; two former Superintendents of the Sunday School of this Church, Messrs. Daniel L. Bishop and Isaac Carpenter, became two of its first Elders. Gen- eral Simeon DeWitt, himself a Dutchman and member of that communion, aided the new enterprise to the extent of $2,000, and it became a Dutch Re- formed Church ; it was changed to a Congregational Church in 1871.
The Presbyterian Church of Catherine, Tioga County, was organized of seven members from this Church duly dismissed in 1821. And, on March 4, 1837, the record is : "Whereas it appears to the Session of the First Presbyterian Church that the time has arrived in the providence of God that it will be for the interests of religion and the glory of God that a second
*Their daughter, Euphias, married Nicoll Halsey. Many of the children and grand-children of this union have been or are now active in the work of our Church.
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HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
Presbyterian Church be formed in this village, therefore, Resolved that whenever the adequate funds be pledged for building a house of worship, we recommend that the proper steps be taken for the promotion of said object." But nothing came of that.
Feb. 1841, it is recorded in the minutes of the Ithaca Presbytery that :
" Mr. Jewell and others being heard on the subject of waste places within our bounds, Pres- bytery resolved that Messrs. Wisner, Jewell and Clark, ministers, Messrs. Leonard and Sharp, Elders, be appointed a committee to explore the section of country easterly of Ithaca, with reference to organizing a Church." In April a call is issued for a meeting "to attend to an application from the people in Etna, to organize a Presbyterian Church in that place." At that meeting it was " Resolved, that the committee in reference to the region easterly of Ithaca be continued, and invested with power to organize a Church, and to employ a Missionary, and raise funds for his support, and report at the next meeting of the Presbytery."
At a meeting of Presbytery, held in Ludlowville, Sept. 27, 1842, "the committee appointed to visit Varna reported that they had organized a Church in that place, and Apollos Eaton took his seat as an Elder from said Church." Mr. Eaton had for a few years previous been a Deacon in the Ithaca Church ; he and Mr. Zachariah Hartsough, also from this Church, became the first Elders of the Varna Church. The Presbytery's narrative in September, 1843, states :-
"The Church in Ithaca has received an addition, by examination, of ninety members as fruits of a most interesting season of refreshing. The Church in Varna, organized a year since, now consists of ninety-seven members of whom forty were received as subjects of a work of grace in that place during the last winter."
After a few years the Varna Church, by reason of deaths and removals, dwindled in membership and finally died. One good result of that revival in 1843, and of training in our own Church, abides still in the person and work of Rev. Lewis Hartsough, mentioned on page 62.
From the many old bills, still preserved, we can picture to ourselves the Church life of the early days. We know what it cost for " candles for the meeting house," and for wood, for " watching the church," for ringing the bell and other janitor service. The " sacramental furniture " was purchased in 1827, and cost, together with transportation and a chest, $209.50. In April, 1828, a letter is recorded from Munger and Pratt, donating the brass time-piece which they made and put up in the church, stating cost at $25.
September 3rd, 1825, a committee reported the necessity of adding twenty feet to the north end of the church, moving the pulpit to the front end (south), rearranging the seats and altering the gallery by erect- ing one over the north end of the house, converting the south gallery into a
-
JACOB SHEPHERD 1804-65
JOHN C.HAY 1 1818- 33
NITHO AS TOWYLER 18/2-79
HENRY LEONARO 1854 - 64
DIXON G. HAZEN 1833~69
HARLEY LORD 1834-44
TIMOTHY S. WILLIAMS 1846-49
GEORGE MECHAN 1858-69
GEORGE WHILE 1804-69
ALBER MAUL. 1966-89
COSTA. B. WILL AUS 1869-83
GEORGE O.BEERS 1069-80
BENJAMIN S. HALSEY 1868-76
GEORGE RANKIN 1869-88
URI CLARK 1869-74;81-07,83-
WILLIAM P. LUCE 1869-71
EDWARD C. SEYMOUR 1969 -72
CHARLES F. BLOOD 1871-98
HOWARD C. WILLIAMS 1371-9
HENRY S. WILLIAMS 1875-92
ARTHUR B.BROOKS 1878-
A
EDWARD P. GILBERT 1884-
FRANCIS M. BURDICK 1880-91
JARED T. NEWMAN 1888 -
BRAINARD O. SMITH 1991-03 1902-4
GEORGE R.WILLIAMS 1892 -
DUNCAN C. LEE 1885-
ROBERT H. TREMAN
GEORGE C.WILLIAMS 1900-
1882-1908
MELDERS OF
THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF ITHACA, N. Y.
SINCE ITS ORGANIZATION IN 1804
IN THE ABOVE GROUD ALL ARE INCLUDED EXCEPT
BENJ.CAYKENDALL, 1810- 37, JAMES MSKINNEY, 1916 - 49,
ABNERM.BACKUS, 1918-18, JAMES MS CHAIN, 1818-42,
OF WHOM ND PICTURES ARE EXTANT.
18.50 - 61
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HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
session room and the square pews in the side galleries into slips, estimating the cost at $1600, besides the cost of painting the outside of the house and repairs of the tower and steps. The congregation voted "it is desirable to make the alteration in the meeting house recommended by the committee, provided funds can be raised without imposing any burden on the present pew holders." In February, 1826, the pews that plan proposed should be added were sold in advance of the improvement and the fund used to pay the con- tractor. The floor plan of the improved church appears on page 13 of the Trustees' records. June 25th, 1827, the contract for thus altering the build- ing was paid for in full to Ira Tillotson, being $2500 contract and $82.94 extra for pulpit and other work. In the sale of new pews which yielded this revenue the highest price paid was $125.
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