History of the Genesee country (western New York) comprising the counties of Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Ontario, Orleans, Schuyler, Steuben, Wayne, Wyoming and Yates, Volume II, Part 7

Author: Doty, Lockwood R. (Lockwood Richard), 1858- editor
Publication date: 1925
Publisher: Chicago, S.J. Clarke Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 824


USA > New York > Genesee County > History of the Genesee country (western New York) comprising the counties of Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Ontario, Orleans, Schuyler, Steuben, Wayne, Wyoming and Yates, Volume II > Part 7


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).


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65


In each of the four Liberty Loans and in the Victory Loan the county and city "went over the top." Unfortunately, accu- rate figures of the amounts subscribed in the towns to each of these loans is not available. The result of the loans in the city of Rochester is indicated by the following :


Loan


Quota


Subscribed


First


$20,479,000


$20,499,350


Second


30,754,500


31,251,000


Third


15,668,000


17,121,700


Fourth


31,100,200


32,108,450


Victory


23,440,300


25,688,150


$121,442,000


$126,668,650


Rochester industries made a notable contribution to the war work, the history of which, in many cases, has been exhaustively


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HISTORY OF THE GENESEE COUNTRY


prepared by the companies themselves. The Eastman Kodak Company rendered most important aid in developing aerial photo- graphy and training photographers, also in the study of camou- flage. The Bausch & Lomb and other optical companies pro- duced immense quantities of optical glass and periscopes. The Symington Company turned out over a half-million 75mm anti- aircraft shells and over 3,000,000 75mm shrapnel shells. Barom- eters, parachutes, auto-trucks and hundreds of other articles for the fighting forces were manufactured among the industries in Rochester.


One of the most important of the military organizations formed in Rochester, and one of the earliest was Base Hospital No. 19. In the fall of 1915, Major-General William C. Gorgas, then surgeon-general of the United States Army, suggested to Dr. John M. Swan, of Rochester, that a hospital company be organized in that city. During the winter a group for quick mobilization was formed consisting of Doctors Max Almy, Albert Bowen, William V. Ewers, John D. Fowler, Clayton K. Haskell, Charles W. Hennington, Charles L. Hincher, C. Wentworth Hoyt, Nathan D. McDowell, Arthur P. Reed, Charles C. Sutter and John M. Swan, who were commissioned first lieutenants in the Medical Reserve Corps. Later the following doctors were added: Frederick J. Garlick, Harry A. Sadden, Warren Wooden, Edward W. Phillips, Edward T. Wentworth, Edward L. Hanes, Albert D. Kaiser, Alvah S. Miller, John R. Booth and James M. Flynn. Two dentists, Doctors Arthur W. Smith and Ralph H. Wickins, and Rev. Herbert W. Gates, were later enrolled. Doc- tor Swan was commissioned director of this unit. After Con- gress declared war against the Imperial German Government April 6, 1917, recruits came in very rapidly. In December, 1917, the company numbered 153 men and these were sent to the dif- ferent mobilization camps for training. On June 4, 1918, Base Hospital No. 19 embarked on the Baltic and upon arrival in France was ordered to Vichy, where a group of nine hotels was to be arranged by the unit into a hospital. This work was quickly done and the first patients were received July 12th. With the company were forty-three women, several of them experienced nurses from the Rochester and Canandaigua hospitals. The meri- torious service of this hospital unit on French soil ended April


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HISTORY OF THE GENESEE COUNTRY


13, 1919, when it sailed for home on the Freedom. It landed in New York on the 28th and was demobilized May 4, 1919.


In the 27th Division, the 108th Regiment contained three com- panies-A, G and H-which were distinctly Rochester units. Rochester men were scattered in every other company. Com- panies A and H were old companies, having seen service in the Spanish-American War, and were attached to the old Third Regi- ment, National Guard. After a period of training at Pelham Bay, New York, and Spartanburg, South Carolina, the regiment went overseas, arriving before the end of May, 1918. The first action which the regiment saw was in cooperation with the British on Belgian soil, in the Ypres salient. Then back over the old Somme terrain the 27th fought its way, and on the 29th of September, the "big push" against the Hindenburg Line occurred. The 27th, with severe losses, including many Rochester boys, carried their objective and proceeded far beyond it, winning im- perishable fame by their courage and fighting qualities. The division was relieved on the night of the 29th by the Australians. In Company C, 102d Ammunition Train, of this division, there were 32 Monroe County men. The county was also represented in the Headquarters and 106th ambulance companies attached to this division, also the Sanitary Detachment. The 106th Machine Gun Battalion of this division was the former well-known Troop H, First Cavalry, N. G. N. Y.


Men from Monroe County and Rochester were in the 76th Division, which was made up of New York and New England troops, and in the 78th, or "Lightning" Division, of men from New York, New Jersey and Delaware. In the latter division the county was well represented in the 303d Engineers, the 309th Heavy Field Artillery, and the 310th Infantry. This division occupied the front line on the Thiancourt sector September 15, 1918. The county was also represented in the Fourth and Fifth Marines, which distinguished themselves at Chateau Thierry. In the 81st Division, local men were numerous in the 306th Field Signal Battalion. Others were scattered through various other branches of the service and many divisions of the A. E. F., in the air service, and the Navy and Marine Corps. Many colored soldiers from the county and city were attached to the 807th Pioneer Infantry, which was organized in July, 1918, and saw active service in the Meuse-Argonne.


CHAPTER XXIV.


THE CITY OF ROCHESTER: CHURCHES.


From the founding of the city, religious expression and ob- servances have in a marked degree characterized community life; churches have multiplied; those who ministered to the people have been of unusual power and zeal. The pendulum of thought has naturally swung from one extreme to the other; Puritanical periods of reform have had their high water mark and there have been intervals of comparative laxity, but, beginning with that time of religious revival which followed the Revolution, and dur- ing which Rochester churches had their inception, the church has been a dominating factor.


The oldest church in the city of Rochester today is the First Presbyterian, which was organized August 18, 1815, under the name of "The First Presbyterian Church of Gates in Rochester- ville," by a group from the Geneva Presbytery, composed of Rev. Daniel Fuller and Rev. Reuben Parmalee, and elders Isaac B. Barnum and Samuel Stone. Sixteen persons were first admitted to membership, namely: Sibel Bickford, Warren Brown, Henry Donnelly, Hannah Donnelly, Elisha Ely, Hannah Ely, Oliver Gibbs, Jane Gibbs, Aaron Lay, Sarah Lay, Charles Magne, Polly Magne, Huldah Stoddard, Arbela Starks, Daniel West and Eliza- beth West. The first pastor was Rev. Comfort Williams, whose service extended from January 17, 1816 to May 11, 1821. The population of the village at this time was not much over three hundred, but Buffalo Street was daily crowded with the teams and wagons of new arrivals. The first Sunday School in the village was organized in this church April 26, 1818, with about sixty members. The first house of worship of the First Presby- terian Church was a wooden building located on State Street, and in this structure the Rochester Presbytery was organized April 6, 1819. In October, 1824, a new stone church was completed on the site of the present City Hall. In 1860 an improved building


763


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was put up west of the stone church. On May 2, 1869, the church building was partially burned. A new site was bought at the corner of Plymouth Avenue and Spring Street and here, on June 23, 1872, the present church building was dedi- cated. Since Reverend Williams the pastors of the First Presby- terian Church have been Joseph Penney, 1823-1833; Tryon Ed- wards, 1834-1844; Malcolm McLaren, 1844-1846; Joshua H. McIlvaine, 1848-1860; Calvin Pease, 1861-1862; Beadle, Ander- son and Robinson between 1862 and 1866; Casper M. Wines, 1866- 1868; J. Lovejoy Robertson, 1870-1876; Charles E. Robinson, 1878-1886; Nelson Millard, 1887-1900; George D. Miller, 1901- 1911; Warren S. Stone, 1911-1925. The First Presbyterian has been the mother of a number of other churches, including the Brick Church in 1825, the Third Church in 1826, the Brighton and the Central in 1836, St. Peter's in 1852, Plymouth in 1853 and Emanuel in 1887.


The second church society to be organized in Rochester was St. Luke's Episcopal, and the third was that of the Friends, or Quakers. Sketches of these churches will appear in a later part of this chapter.


The Brick Church was organized November 18, 1825, as the Second Presbyterian Church of Rochester, and was an outgrowth of the parent church-the First Presbyterian. The first church building of the latter was used by the new society, which con- sisted of some twenty-five charter members. The church was organized by a presbytery commission consisting of Reverends Asa Carpenter, Chauncey Cook, Joseph Penney and William T. Curry, with elders Moses Chapin and Joel Baldwin. This was the humble beginning of a church which was destined to play an important role in the life of the city and to become one of the largest congregations in the country. The need of a new house of worship soon became imperative and a lot was secured at the corner of North Fitzhugh and Allen, then called "Hughes and Ann" streets, where, in 1828, a building was erected. Then ensued a period of hard times and the property was sold under mortgage foreclosure. The society was reorganized in Novem- ber, 1833, and the church property repurchased. In 1860-61 the old building was demolished and a new one constructed, and again improved in 1892. On June 11, 1903, fire completely destroyed


FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, ROCHESTER Built in 1824 on present site of city hall


8-Vol. 2


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HISTORY OF THE GENESEE COUNTRY


this building, but in a little over a year a new structure on the same site was completed. The first pastor of the Brick Church was Rev. William James, who served from 1826 to 1831. Then came William Wisner, 1831-1835; George Beecher, 1837-1840; James Boylan Shaw, 1840-1888; William Rivers Taylor, 1888- 1823; Justin W. Nixon, since 1924. Much of the extraordinary success of the Brick Church through a long period of years is attributable to the labors of Rev. James Boylan Shaw, who was pastor for forty-eight years and pastor emeritus for a year and a half ; his death occurred May 8, 1890.


The Third Presbyterian Church of Rochester was organized January 15, 1827, in a small school building on the corner of Clin- ton and Mortimer streets. Twenty-two members were enrolled a month later, all of them from the First and Brick churches. Josiah Bissell, Jr., and Salmon Scofield were the first elders. Very soon a lot was purchased on the corner of Clinton and Main (site of Sibley, Lindsay & Curr store), from Enos Stone; on this lot, fronting Clinton, a small church building was constructed, and dedicated August 21, 1828. This was sold in 1834 to the Second Baptist society and the Presbyterians, having experienced financial troubles, used the Lancaster Street high school for a time. Their second church was built on Main Street, just west of Stone, south side, but this was destroyed by fire August 17, 1858. Property on what is now Cortland Street was then pur- chased and a church erected, in 1859. This was sold in 1883, and the lot on the corner of East Avenue and Meigs Street secured. A chapel was first erected and the main building of the church followed in 1893. The pastors of the Third Church have been Joel Parker, 1827-1830; Charles G. Finney (supply), 1830-1831; Luke Lyons, 1831-1832 (Lyons withdrew and, with a number of other members, formed the Free Church) ; William C. Wisner, 1832-1834; William Mack, 1835-1839; Albert G. Hall, 1840-1871; George Patton, 1871-1893; Richard Davenport Harlan, 1894- 1901; Paul Moore Strayer, 1903-1925 (Emeritus, 1925).


The Central Presbyterian Church was organized August 29, 1836, as the Bethel Free Presbyterian Church, with thirty-nine members who had withdrawn from the First Presbyterian Church. On March 30, 1858 the legislature altered the name to the Central Presbyterian Church. The original members were:


768


HISTORY OF THE GENESEE COUNTRY


George A. Avery, Francis Avery, Thomas Adams, Cornelia S. Adams, Michael B. Bateham, John Biden, Jr., William S. Bishop, John F. Bush, William Cook, Lydia Cook, Mary M. Cook, Spen- cer Davis, Eliza Davis, Joseph Farley, Walter S. Griffith, Eliza- beth S. Griffith, Henry D. Griffith, Theodore B. Hamilton, Julia M. Hamilton, Lydia Hatch, Fanny E. Hatch, Ebenezer Knapp, Polly Knapp, Apollos Luce, Josiah Newell, Mary Newell, Samuel D. Porter, Preston Smith, Eliza N. Smith, William P. Smith, Eunice Smith, Henry F. Smith, John Still, Louisa Still, Newell A. Stone, Nancy Stone Richard R. Wilkins and Mary P. Wilkins. The first Bethel Church was constructed in 1837, on the west side of Washington Street, north of the canal, but this house of worship was destroyed by incendiary fire November 22, 1861. The Central Church home was completed in 1858, while the second house of worship was finished in 1891. Since the beginning the pastors who have served this society have been George S. Boardman, 1837-1842; Milo J. Hickok, 1845-1854; Frank F. Ellinwood, 1856-1866; Samuel M. Campbell, 1866-1881; Theodore W. Hop- kins, 1881-1887; James S. Riggs (supply), 1887-1888; Henry H. Stebbins, 1888-1904; Charles C. Albertson, 1905-1910; C. Waldo Cherry, 1910-1922; Sherman L. Divine, since 1923.


St. Peter's Presbyterian Church Society was formally organ- ized December 12, 1853, although a church building had been con- structed through the generosity of Levi A. Ward in 1853, and located at the corner of Gibbs and Grove streets. Services were held in the new building soon after its completion. This structure was burned March 18, 1868, but was immediately rebuilt. On June 11, 1923, in view of the fact that no services had been held in the church for a number of years, the presbytery decided to abandon St. Peters (church), which was done. In 1922 the church building was sold at auction. The pastors of this society were: Richard H. Richardson, 1856-1857; Joseph H. Towne, 1858-1860; John T. Coit, 1860-1863; Edwin D. Yeomans, 1863-1867; John M. Crowell, 1869-1870; Asa S. Fiske, 1872-1875; Herman C. Riggs, 1876-1885; Alfred J. Hutton, 1887-1895; Herman C. Riggs, 1895-1901; S. Banks Nelson, 1901-1906; Harvey Clements, 1910-1912; John Hutchinson, 1912-1918; A. Murray Porter, 1918.


The Westminster Presbyterian Church was so named July 12, 1875; it was merely a change of name from the West Avenue


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HISTORY OF THE GENESEE COUNTRY


Chapel, which had been organized September 29, 1859, consoli- dating the Buffalo Street Mission, the Westminster Presbyterian Chapel and the Bull's Head Mission, established in 1856, 1858 and 1857 respectively. It was on April 5, 1868, that eighty-two mem- bers of the Central Church were dismissed and became the con- gregation of the Westminster Church. The West Avenue Chapel was constructed in 1860 and enlarged into a church in 1871. The pastors have been Henry M. Morey, 1871-1874; Corliss B. Gard- ner, 1874-1895; Albert Evans, 1896-1904; Charles B. Chapin, since 1904.


Calvary Presbyterian Church was founded July 15, 1856, with sixteen members, namely: William Stebbins, Eliza B. Stebbins, William T. Cushing, Arabella Cushing, Henrietta Dempsey, Olive House, Helen M. House, Mrs. J. Z. Stothoff, Hannah Ray, James Badger, Catherine Badger, Elizabeth Barrett, James Barton, Charles Barton, Elizabeth Blunn and Mercy Ingraham. A brick church was built at the corner of South Avenue and Hamilton Street in 1871. The pastors who have occupied the pulpits of this church have been Charles Ray, 1856-1858; James Nichols (sup- ply), 1858-1861; Belville Roberts, 1861-1865; Alfred Yeomans, 1865-1867; Herbert W. Morris, 1867-1877; E. P. Gardner, 1877; Edward Bristol, 1878-1890; Glenroie McQueen, 1890-1892; Charles A. Evans, 1892-1897; George C. Frost, 1897-1909; A. J. MacMillan, 1909-1919; William H. Simmons, since 1919.


The Memorial Presbyterian Church was organized in 1869 as a mission of the Brick church and as a distinct society January 19, 1872 ; services were held in a school building and elsewhere until a chapel was built, in 1871, at the corner of Hudson Avenue and Wilson Street, and a decade later was converted into a church. In 1882 the growing congregation made necessary the erection of a new house of worship on the same site. Pastors have been Gavin L. Hamilton, 1871-1874; Charles P. Coit, 1875-1900; J. Lyon Caughey, 1901-1905; Fred J. Tower, 1906-1911; William W. Stoddart, 1911-1915; J. Canfield Van Doren, 1915-1923 ; Theo- dore T. Hays, since 1923.


The North Presbyterian Church was organized February 12, 1884, and was the successor of the North Mission Sunday School, which had been established April 18, 1869. The society had sev- enty members when the church was formed. A chapel had been


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HISTORY OF THE GENESEE COUNTRY


constructed for the school by the Central Church and, in 1886, the latter church deeded the whole property to the North Church, and a house of worship was completed thereon in 1889. The first pastor was Rev. Peter Lindsay, who came in 1885. He has been followed by A. J. Hutton (acting), 1909; Herbert B. Smith, 1909- 1912; Robert W. Veach, 1912-1916; William G. Kennedy, since 1916.


Emanuel Presbyterian Church has existed since May 2, 1887, and is the outgrowth of a mission school which had been estab- lished in 1873 at the house of Ezra Taylor, and known as the Bethany Sunday School. In 1890 the First Presbyterian Church presented the Emanuel with an entire church property. The first pastor, Rev. James S. Root, was installed in 1888, and his suc- cessors have been J. W. Ross, 1898-1899; D. M. Countermine, 1899-1901; William A. Hallock, 1901-1907; Ebenezer B. McGhee, since 1907. The church property is located on Jefferson Avenue and Shelter Street.


The Grace Presbyterian Church was organized in the town of Gates October 8, 1891, with a membership of sixty-two. H. L. Reed, J. J. Wagner and M. C. Joiner were elected trustees, while the elders were Isaac J. Seeley, George M. Roe, William H. Car- roll, and William A. Baker. The first house of worship was burned in the year 1895. Some time later, after a period of meet- ing in various halls, a church was constructed on Lyell Avenue opposite Whitney Street, on property bought for that purpose. Grace Church has been served by the following pastors: B. W. Perry, 1891-1893; Thomas E. Sherman, 1893-1897; D. N. Mor- den, 1897-1901; S. F. Sharp, 1901-1904; F. N. Lindsay, 1905- 1908; G. Herman Fickes, 1908-1913; Walter B. Jorris, 1913-1920; Joel C. Glover, 1920; William A. Hallock, since 1921.


Mt. Hor Presbyterian Church was organized November 27, 1893, with seventeen members. This society grew from the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor, which began in 1891 as a branch of the Sunday school in the Cobb's Hill district of Brighton, a notable Sunday school existing since 1823. The first church building of the Mt. Hor congregation was erected in 1894 at the corner of Rosedale and Roosevelt streets; the second build- ing was completed in 1901. Rev. J. M. McElhinney supplied the congregation for a few months prior to the organization and in


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HISTORY OF THE GENESEE COUNTRY


1894 he was installed as the first regular pastor. He served until 1899 and was followed by Robert Wells Veach in 1900, Huston Taylor in 1909, and Robert J. Drysdale in 1911.


With fifty-two members, the East Side Presbyterian Church was organized April 22, 1901, after several months of preliminary work by the Presbyterian Union of Rochester. John M. Copeland, Clayton J. Parkhurst, Frank R. Raymond and Charles J. Wagner were the first elders. Rev. Charles P. Coit, whose early efforts aided substantially in the formation of the society, was installed as the first pastor. His successors have been Revs. A. D. D. Fraser, 1906-1911; Arthur Clements, 1911-1916; Francis L. Mc- Cauley, 1916. The first church building was constructed on the lot purchased in 1901 at the corner of Hayward Avenue and Chamberlain Street.


The second church of this denomination in this section was the Brighton Presbyterian Church. In 1816 Rev. Solomon Allen, from Massachusetts, established a Sunday School on Clover Street. On September 18, 1817, the Brighton Church was organized, with twenty-two original members. In 1822 a brick church was erected, but was destroyed by fire April 18, 1867. A new build- ing was built on the so-called Blossom Farm on East Avenue the following year. Although incorporated as a Presbyterian Church, this society was under Congregational affiliation until Septem- ber 21, 1870, when it became Presbyterian. The pastors have been Charles Thorp, 1825-1836; Alva Ingersoll, 1836-1875; Joseph R. Page, 1875-1885; James S. Root, 1885-1888; John Mc- Call, 1888-1904; George V. Reichel, 1904-1908; Frank M. Weston, 1908. There have been ten other pastors, not installed, who have occupied the pulpit for varying periods.


Trinity Presbyterian Church (colored) was organized May 15, 1902, Trinity Presbyterian Mission having been organ- ized December 16, 1898. Rev. A. Sellers Mays was the first pastor of the mission in 1899 and after the formation of the church was regularly installed. The church is now located on Reynolds Street and Bronson Avenue.


The Italian Presbyterian Church of the Evangel, on Magne Street, was organized in the year 1909. The Dewey Avenue Pres- byterian Church was organized in 1912 and is located at Dewey Avenue and Seneca Parkway. The Irondequoit Presbyterian


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HISTORY OF THE GENESEE COUNTRY


Church, Culver Road near Ridge Road, was founded in 1914. There are also the Ukrainian Presbyterian Church, on Herman Street, and the South Presbyterian Church on Mt. Hope Avenue.


The United Presbyterian Church of Rochester effected its organization September 21, 1849, as the First Associate Reformed Church of Rochester. Meetings were held at various places until about 1850, when a building was constructed at Troup Street and Plymouth Avenue. A building was later erected on Plymouth near Allen Street. The pastors have been John Van Eaton, W. P. McAdams, Thomas Boyd, James P. Sankey, John Heslop, Mar- vin J. Thompson and Ernest B. McClellan. Reverend Sankey served the congregation forty-two years.


The second church to be established in the village of Roches- terville was St. Luke's Episcopal. This occurred July 14, 1817, in a school house in the town of Brighton, Ontario County. The score of men present gave to the organization the name St. Luke's Church, Genesee Falls. Col. Nathaniel Rochester and Samuel J. Andrews were chosen as wardens and the vestrymen named were Silas O. Smith, Roswell Babbitt, John Mastick, Louis Jenkins, Elisha Johnson, John C. Rochester, William Atkinson and Oliver Culver. First meetings were held in the homes of various mem- bers and the first preaching was done by Reverend Norton in connection with his work at Carthage and Pittsford. The story of the acquisition of the first church lot is of interest and is here requoted from "The Significance of the Early Religious History of Rochester" by Rev. Orlo J. Price (the original appears in Cen- tennial Annals of St. Luke's Church) :


"The offer of the original proprietors of the '100-acre tract,' Messrs, Rochester, Fitzhugh & Carroll, 'to convey lot No. 85 to the first religious society that should take possession of the same and build a church thereon,' being still open, the Vestry resolved July 10, 1820, to avail itself of the proposition. Before the lot, however, was definitely secured, an effort was made in the Roman Catholic interest to forestall the Vestry, and a messenger was sent to Geneseo to secure the signatures of Messrs. Fitzhugh and Car- roll, who resided in that locality, to a deed of gift. But the Vestry dispatched Mr. Henry E. Rochester, then a lad of fourteen years, on a fleeter horse with a similar object in view. The latter suc- ceeded in overtaking and passing the other messenger, who was


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HISTORY OF THE GENESEE COUNTRY


tarrying for refreshment in the tavern at Avon, and so obtained the necessary signatures, to which that of the senior proprietor was cheerfully added."


In 1820 a small wooden church was erected, subscriptions of money and different articles of merchandise having been given. Three years later, however, the society had prospered to such an extent that the small frame building was moved to the back of the lot, a stone structure begun and completed in 1825. The rec- tors of St. Luke's have been Francis H. Cuming, 1821-1829; Henry J. Whitehouse, 1830-1844; Thomas C. Pitkin, 1844-1847; Henry W. Lee, 1847-1854; Benjamin Watson, 1854-1859; R. B. Claxton, 1859-1865; Henry Anstice, 1866-1897; Rob Roy Mac- Gregor Converse, 1897-1916; Samuel Tyler, since 1916.


St. Paul's Episcopal Church, the second of the denomination in the village, has had a long and eventful history, interrupted by calamities from which the society always emerged successfully. The church was organized May 28, 1827, at a meeting in the Franklin Institute, at which time the wardens chosen were Wil- ยท liam Atkinson and Giles Boulton, and the vestrymen Elisha John- son, Elisha B. Strong, Enos Stone, Samuel J. Andrews, Daniel Tinker and A. B. Curtis. A location for the church was secured on Clyde and Market streets, which thoroughfares were renamed North and South St. Paul, and a house of worship begun. After some time, during which the pretentious spire blew down, it was completed. The church experienced many difficulties in the first twenty years of its life, including two mortgage foreclosures, and it was not until 1847 that the property was free from encumb- rance. No sooner was this desirable condition brought about than, on July 25th of that year, the church building was burned to the ground. It was immediately rebuilt. After many years as a prominent downtown church, St. Paul's was moved to its new property on the corner of East Avenue and Vick Park B in 1897, and the title of St. Paul's restored by the legislature, the church having been known as Grace Church since 1833, when financial troubles compelled a reincorporation. The rectors of St. Paul's have been Sutherland Douglass, 1828-1829; Chauncey Colton, 1830-1831; H. V. D. Johns, 1832; Burton H. Hickox, 1833-1835; Orange Clark, 1835-1839; William E. Eigenbrodt, 1842-1843; John V. Van Ingen, 1848-1854; Mansell Van Rensselaer, 1854-




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