USA > New York > Niagara County > Landmarks of Niagara County, New York > Part 14
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the new church, and afterward went to Christ church to advance to the priesthood the Rev. Ebenezer H. Cressey, rector of that parish.
Thus were the two parishes organized, provided with houses of wor- ship, and started on their career of usefulness side by side. "Upper Town" and "Lower Town" were almost two distinct places, and in the course of the next thirty years the latter seemed to become more and more the center of the wealth, and of the business and social life in Lockport. Since then the process has again been reversed, and to day old Market Street, with its quaint and stately look, speaks of the past more than the future.
It is eminently fitting in this connection to record the names of those who in each of these parishes labored as clergymen, and as prominent laymen in their time. The roll of rectors and minister in charge for Christ church is as follows :
Rev. David Brown, 1831-1833; Rev. Orange Clark, 1834-1836; Rev. Russell Wheeler, 1836-1837; Rev. Ebenezer H. Cressey, 1837-1841; Rev. Origen P. Hol- comb, 1841-1843; Rev. Erastus B. Foote, 1843-1845; Rev. Henry Stanley, 1846-1849; Rev. Orlando F. Starkey, 1849-1855; Rev. Andrew Mackie, 1856-1857; Rev. I. Foote and Rev. E. R. Welles, 1858-1859; Rev. Martin Moody, 1859-1860; Rev. Albert Lewis, 1861-1863; Rev. James Abercrombie, D. D., 1863-1874; Rev. Frederick S. Hyde, 1874-1877; Rev. George W. Southwell, 1877-1888; Rev. C. Graham Adams, D. D., 1889-1890; Rev. John H. Perkins, 1890-1894; Rev. William F. Faber, 1894-
The rectors of Grace church have been the following :
Rev. Beardsley Northrup, 1835-1836; Rev. George Denison, 1837-1841; Rev. Lloyd Windsor, 1842-1846; Rev. Charles H. Platt, 1846-1849; Rev. William A. Matson, D, D., 1860-1866; Rev. Lawrence S. Stevens, 1866-1870; Rev. Charles G. Gilbert, Ph. D., 1870-1875; Rev. Foster Ely, 1875-1885; Rev. Charles W. Camp, 1885-1893; Rev. William F. Faber, 1893- 1
4 William Frederick Faber was born at Buffalo, N. Y., February 27, 1860, of German parent- age; and after four years at St. Peter's parochial school, attended the public and the High School, graduating from the latter at the age of sixteen. He entered the University of Rochester where he made a specialty of linguistic studies, taking his degree of Bachelor of Arts in the class of 1880. Three years later he graduated from Auburn Theological Seminary. In April, 1882, he was licensed to preach, after examination by the Presbytery of Buffalo, and by the same body was ordained to the Presbyterian ministry July 8, 1883. After spending a short time in city mission work in Buffalo, he went in November, 1883, to Westfield, N. Y., as pastor of the First Presby- terian church of that place. Here he remained over nine years, this being his first and only Presby- terian pastorate.
In December, 1892, Mr. Faber, after long study and reflection, felt it his duty to enter the Epis- copal church, and became a candidate for Holy Orders under the late Rt. Rev. Bishop Coxe, by whom he was made deacon at Geneva, May 28, 1893, and advanced to the priesthood at Lockport, May 20, 1894. For eight months he served as assistant to the rector of St. Peter's, Geneva, the late Rev. James Rankine, D. D., LL.D, when he was called to the rectorship of Grace church, Lock-
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To follow in detail the history of each parish would require more space than is available.
The first wardens of Christ church were Edward W. Raymond and Dr. Josiah K. Skinner; the first vestrymen, Nathan Dayton, Henry Walbridge, Lot Clark, Seymour Scovell, Edward Bissell, Leverett Bis- sell, Joel McCollum, and George Fields. There seems to have been no parish register kept by the first rector. The first recorded marriage is that of Washington Hunt (afterward governor of New York) and Mary Walbridge, November 20, 1834. Mr. Hunt was confirmed in 1841, and continued to the last his benefactions and personal devotion to the parish, which his widow, now resident in New York, still maintains with unabated affection. The first list of communicants, made in 1835, con- tained thirty eight names, among them that of George W. Merchant, since become famous as the founder of Merchant's Gargling Oil Company.
Mr. Cressey's rectorship of four years is spoken of as one of great prosperity. The number of communicants rose to sixty seven.
A church school for girls was founded, of which Bishop De Lancey spoke with enthusiasm. Prominent men were confirmed. It was dur- ing this rectorship that the diocese had been divided, Rev. William H. De Lancey, D.D., being chosen at Geneva, November 1, 1838, as first bishop of Western New York
In 1848 a new communicant list was made, which contained only six of the thirty eight names of the list of 1835, the whole number now being seventy. This fact may serve to show the fluctuating character of the population in those early days.
The rectorship of Rev. Orlando F. Starkey is noteworthy as being that in which the present church was erected Mr. Starkey had felt the need of a new edifice, and during his travels abroad he " got his mind full of what he would like." The project seemed utterly visionary to the people, but Grace parish was just erecting its handsome stone church, and so, after some agitation, a committee circulated a subscrip-
port, entering upon his duties December 1, 1893. The happiness of this congenial relation and encouraging work was soon clouded by the untimely death of his wife, Dorethea J. K. Faber, on February 11, 1895.
Mr. Faber has published three small volumes of sermons under the title "Thoughts for Thought" (1886), " The Church for the Times (1891) and "Nobiscum Deus: The Gospel of the In- carnation" (1893) ; as well as a number of articles in the Andover Review and the Reformed Quar- terly Review,
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tion, and a building committee consisting of the rector with Messrs. James Denniston, William Norman, John Bous and John Craine went to work. The result we know. November 16, 1854, Bishop De Lancey consecrated the beautiful Gothic church, whose erection excited so much comment and even ridicule in a generation as yet unaccustomed to churchly architecture. The cost of the building was $6,000.
The period which followed witnessed a retrograde movement, until 1861, when under Revs. A. C. Lewis, James Abercrombie, D.D, and F. S. Hyde, great numbers were baptized and confirmed, the commun- icant list in 1877 numbering (in spite of many removals) IIO. Dr. Abercrombie is remembered with grateful affection as the rector of longest incumbency up to that time, and as the builder of the rectory.
The efficient and faithful pastorate of Rev. G. W. Southwell extended over eleven years. He witnessed the progress of the decline of Lower- town, and foresaw that the movement of population and of business would continue to be unfavorable to that part of the city ; but he labored on and brought the parish up in many important respects. The last work he undertook and brought to completion was the building of a parish house in 1888, at a cost of $2,200, of which $900 was a legacy left by Mrs. Walbridge and $500 a gift by Mrs. Mary H. Hunt.
In November, 1894, the parish being vacant, the vestry asked the rector of Grace church to take charge of the work, and in the following year elected him rector. June 1, 1896, the Rev. G. Sherman Burrows came as vicar of Christ church and assistant at Grace church, the two parishes being bound together in this way under one head and deriving, it is hoped, a greater efficiency and moral strength from such union. At the present time, January, 1897, there is a list of eighty communi- cants and a Sunday school of about sixty. The wardens are Joseph Dumville and John Hawkes; the vestrymen Joseph Bewley, Martin L. Stevenson, John Drew, Richard Bewley, Hon. Charles Peterson and Jesse H. Clark. The property consisting of church, parish house and rectory, all of stone, is valued at $13,000. There is no debt.
The first entry on the parish register of Grace church is that of the baptism of Emma Hickox and Caroline Hart Boughton, children of Mr. and Mrs. George H. Boughton. The date is June 28, 1832. The burial of the former of these two children is entered October 25, 1832.
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These entries give conclusive evidence of the existence of the parish, at least in outward organization, for three years after the first corporation was formed, and within three years of the second and permanent organization.
The first wardens after the reorganization, February 9, 1835, were Edward W. Raymond and John Bagley. The first vestrymen were Hezekiah Thomas, Lathrop Fellows, Edward I. Chase, Elias Ransom, jr., Alexander Ralston, John S. Shuler, Stephen B. Bond and George Boughton.
Severe struggles marked those early years. Trinity church, New York, whose benefactions aided so many young parishes in the State, had given Christ church $1,000 toward its building, but was appealed to in vain for help in erecting the wooden "Grace church" on Saxton street in 1836. The necessary $4,000 were raised among themselves, and soon the building had to be enlarged. Again they outgrew it, and now a conference was held between the vestries of the two parishes as to the feasibility of joining in the erection of a suitable church for both congregations. That was in 1847. The first overtures came from Christ church. After a full and very friendly interview it ap- peared impracticable to unite, the obvious difficulty being a suitable location. So the question of a parish church for Upper Town was still pending, and became daily more urgent. The Rev. Charles H. Platt was a man of energy and practical leadership. His name will be for- ever honored as that of the rector who built the present Grace church on a scale worthy of the growing parish and city. The enterprise was undertaken in 1852; May 2, 1853, the corner stone was laid, on the new site, Genesee and Cottage streets; two years, nearly, the church was in building; August 12, 1857, it was consecrated by Bishop De Lancey, the last indebtedness being paid. It was a great work, and the history was one of severe struggle, of many discouragements, of genuine heroic faith. Gillet Bacon, George W. Davis, S. Caverno were the subscription committee; Solomon Parmlee, Daniel A. Van Valkenburgh, George W. Davis the building committee. The cost far exceeded the original sum contemplated, $12,500, though we have no means at present of ascertaining the exact amount. The old church was sold to the German congregation of Roman Catholics, and as "St.
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Mary's" continued until 1885, when it was removed to make way for a new brick church. The thirteen years of Mr. Platt's rectorship were years of intense effort and activity, and of corresponding progress in numbers and in all other ways.
The next rector, Dr. Matson, inaugurated the movement to secure a rectory, which, under his successor, Rev. L. S. Stevens, was realized in the purchase of a house on Pine street at a cost of $7,000.
Dr. Gilliat's rectorship is worthy of remembrance, among other things for the beginning of a project long in abeyance, "the building of a free church or chapel in the southeastern part of the city."
The Rev. Foster Ely, D.D., secured not only large additions to the membership of the parish, but very extensive repairs and improvements to the church, beautiful and churchly furnishings, without which we of to-day should hardly recognize the interior of Grace church as the same place. He also founded the "Guild," whose work has been invaluable from that day to this, through whose hands have passed in twenty years more than $24,000, largely spent in building improvements, re- pairs and additions to the church property.
During the rectorship of Rev. C. W. Camp the splendid parish build - ing was erected at a cost of $12,000, and a fund secured for a fine Hutchings organ, costing some $6,000. This necessitated other changes in the chancel; a large vested choir was introduced, and the entire interior of the church redecorated. The last improvements were made in the first year of the present rector.
The parish has now some 440 communicants, and a Sunday school of about 260. The wardens are Hon. John E. Pound and William A. Williams ; the vestrymen, Hon. David Millar, C. M. Van Valkenburgh, Francis N. Trevor, A. H. Ivins, C. G. Sutliff, Francis P. Weaver, Hon. J. T. Darrison, Wallace I. Keep, Edward H. Boynton. The property is valued at $62,500, which includes the beginning of an endowment fund.
In May, 1896, a plan was definitely formulated to obtain a chapel for the new and growing southeastern district of Lockport. The Hon. Ambrose J. Beverly learned about the situation and the project, and unbeknown to his rector bequeathed to the latter "$1,000 for his mis- sionary work in Lockport." On Mr. Beverly's death, June 24, 1896,
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the bequest was made known, and was very kindly paid with the ut- most promptness, so as to be available for the erection of the chapel. An additional sum was freely contributed by many churchmen in Grace parish, and numerous memorial gifts served to furnish the place in a very beautiful and churchly manner. "All Saints' Chapel" at the corner of Walnut and Vine streets, stood complete All Saints' Day, 1896, and was opened with the services of the church. Three weeks later a Sunday school was formed, which has now a membership of 135. The congregations at evening prayer are large. No parish organiza- tion is contemplated ; All Saints' is simply a "chapel-of-ease," primarily to furnish the services to church families living in that district. The property stands valued at $2,400 ; there is no debt.
St. Paul's Church, Lewiston, N. Y .- Lewiston, after having been served by missionaries of whose work no records have been kept, re ceived as resident missionary the Rev. J. M. Robertson. He came un- der the authority of "The Education and Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of New York," on December II, 1831. The church was formally organized on January 16, 1832. Mr. Robertson resigned August 23, 1832, and on December I 1832, the Rev. Robert Davis was appointed. He left in August, 1833. Efforts to erect a building for worship were made by Messrs. Robertson and Davis, but in vain, a cloud having come over the prospects of the church. On November 27, 1834, the Rev. Samuel McBurney took charge of Lewiston and Niagara Falls; but the church of Lewiston had only a nominal existence. Holy Communion was administered for the first time on Christmas Day, 1834, to ten persons, six only of whom belonged to the parish.
On Easter Monday, April 21, 1835, the wardens and vestry were chosen anew, for the first time since the organization of the parish. July 23, 1835, witnessed the laying of the corner stone of a church by the Rev. Henry J. Whitehouse, D. D., of Rochester. In April a Sun- day school was organized with about thirty scholars.
After the retirement of Mr. McBurney in 1835, the parish was vacant till April, 1836, when the Rev. Rufus Murray succeeded him. Mr. Murray remained until August, 1845. He was followed on September 5, 1845, by Rev. A. C. Treadway, who resigned in October, 1852. Rev. L. W. Russ labored from June 26, 1853, to February 26, 1856.
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The first confirmation on record was by Bishop De Lancey on May . 6, 1856.
Rev. J. H. Haven became rector of the parish October 13, 1861, and Rev. George W. Knapp, October 1, 1878. Mr. Knapp retired Novem- ber I, 1881. Rev. John S. Seibold labored from 1882 to July, 1886, when he became chaplain in the U. S. Army, and was sent to Dakota.
De Veaux College masters supplied the parish till May 5, 1887, when the Rev. E. Stewart-Jones, came from Niagara, Ontario, Canada, to be rector. Mr. Jones, after a remarkably useful and popular incum- bency, died on February 12, 1890. His death was due, no doubt, to exposure while superintending the renewal and remodeling of the church.
At the suggestion, and by the request, of Bishop Coxe, the Rev. James Roy, LL.D., who had been supplying Scottsville, N. Y., became the incumbent of the parish from May 5, 1890, to August 31, 1891. Dr. Roy, while engaged in educational work at Le Roy, N. Y., came to Lewiston during September. He was followed in 1891 by the Rev. John Evans, who resided at Youngstown, on the purchase of a rectory there. Since his time the parish has been supplied by occasional visits of clergymen, the weakened condition of the Lewiston congregation rendering the support of a rector an impossibility.
A handful of faithful people struggle, amidst almost hopeless dis- couragemeut, to maintain occasional services in their beautifully ap- pointed little church of St. Paul's.
St. Luke's, Royalton .- The records of St. Luke's church, Royalton, are of a very meager character. It first appears as a missionary sta- tion under the pastoral care of the missionary at Lockport. It is in the list of one of the three organized parishes in the diocesan reports of 1839. In 1840 Bishop De Lancey reports an official visit " to the newly organized congregation of St. Luke's church, Royalton," and holding a service "in the Academy." In the same year " the Rev. Stephen Douglass (deacon) was received into the diocese, and appoint- ed the missionary at Medina and Royalton."
The report of the parish to the Convention of the Diocese was made this year (1840) by Rev. Ebenezer A. Cressey, rector of Christ church, Lockport, under whose care the parish had been, in which he says: “ I
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have given occasional services to this parish during the year. Divine service has been maintained by lay reading on the mornings of each Sunday, to which I have been able generally to add the evening service, and a sermon. One infant baptism. The communion administered once, at which there were present fifteen communicants."
On the 14th of May, 1841, Bishop De Lancey made his second offi - cial visit to this parish, preached in the academy, and confirmed five persons. The bishop adds, in his report to the Convention: "On this day was used a form of prayer, prescribed by me under authority of the Canon, as suitable to the day set apart by recommendation of the civil authority as a day of humiliation and prayer, in reference to the death of the late William Henry Harrison, president of the United States, the deep gloom of which event was relieved by its proving an occasion for calling forth the religious sensibility of the nation, and re- vealing to many despondnnt minds how powerful still is the great un- der current of religion throughout our land, notwithstanding the surface of society is polluted by so much that is calculated to alarm and dis- hearten the faith and piety of the Christian."
In the following year, 1841, the parish is reported as vacant. At the Convention of the Diocese held in St. Paul's church, Syracuse, Henry Hill is present as a deputy and presents the report of the parish, by the warden : " Services have been held twice on each Sunday in the academy, which have been regularly attended ; communicants, nine- teen ; Bible class and Sunday school organized." On the 10th of July, 1843, Bishop De Lancey again visited this parish and officiated in the academy.
The next parochial report is in March, 1844, by the Rev. Philemon E. Coe, missionary at Medina and Royalton. He reports: Twelve families, sixty individuals, fifteen communicants, twenty-five services on Sundays, one marriage. On the 8th of May, 1845, Bishop De Lancey preached in the Methodist chapel and confirmed three persons. In 1846 the missionary, the Rev. T. E. Coe, reports ten families, fifty individuals, fifteen communicants, eighteen services on Sundays, one burial. In the following year a less encouraging report is made by the same missionary. In 1848 Chauncy H. Whitney was present at the Convention of the Diocese as a deputy from this parish. In this
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year the bishop again visited Royalton and officiated in the M. E. chapel, and again on the 9th of July, 1849, and on the 17th of May, 1850. The last record of an Episcopal visitation to this parish was May 30, 1854, by Bishop De Lancey, after which no reports of this parish appear in the diocesan journal. The parish, after a hard struggle for life, having lost much by removals of its members, in the year fol- lowing gave up its charter and ceased to exist.
St. Peter's Church, Niagara Falls .- From an early date, up to 1840 and afterwards, the original settlement at the Falls was known as Man- chester. Occasional services of the Episcopal church were held here as early as 1823 by the Rev. Mr. Hopkins, and by the Rev. Mr. Bennet in 1828.
As early as 1829 a union meeting house was built at the Falls, in which church services might be held from time to time, in proportion to the number of Episcopalians contributing to the erection of the build- ing. In this house Bishop Hobart, third bishop of New York, once held service, and there is yet preserved a Bible and prayer book which he presented to this first congregation.
Of the original members of this parish, Samuel De Veaux and his wife Sarah were confirmed in Trinity church, New York city, April, 1829, by the Rt. Rev. John Henry Hobart, D. D., bishop of New York.
The first class confirmed at the Falls was by the Rt. Rev. Benjamin T. Onderdonk, S. T. D., who was consecrated the fourth bishop of New York November 26, 1830, Bishop Hobart having died September 10, 1830. This class consisted of Mrs. Sally Woodruff, Mr. William G. Tuttle, Mary A. Tuttle, Abel M. Swallow, Christiance Hooker, Mary Merry, Christiance Hooker, second, Rachel Hooker. In January, 1829, the congregation of church people was organized under the legal title of " The Parish of Christ Church, Niagara Falls, N. Y.," and the fol- lowing officers were elected : Wardens, Messrs. Samuel De Veaux and Samuel Hooker; vestrymen, Messrs. Gad Pierce, Ambrose Thomas, Stephen Chapman, Lorin Gerington, William G. Tuttle, John Smith, Abel M. Swallow, Thomas Chapin.
The population of the Falls fluctuated so much that at the end of 1835, it is said, only one church family (Judge Samuel De Veaux) re- mained, and for five years after that date no church services were held.
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Occasional services were held 1831-2 by the Rev. Dr. Shelton while rector of St. Paul's church, Buffalo; in 1832, by the Rev. Mr. Robinson, minister in charge at Lewiston ; 1833-4 by the Rev. Mr. Davis, minis- ter in charge at Lewiston ; 1835-40 by the Rev. Mr. McBurney, rector of Lewiston. For a short time in the early part of 1840 " Manchester (Niagara Falls) is served by the Rev. Rufus Murray of Lewiston," and later in the same year the Rev. George S. Porter became the " mission- ary at the new station of Niagara Falls and Tonawanda."
On Sunday morning, October 4, 1840, Bishop De Lancey made his first visitation of this mission and officiated in the "Union Meeting House," and again on the 18th of May, 1841, the bishop was present, baptized the infant child of the missionary, the Rev. George S. Porter, preached, and confirmed two persons.
The first report of this mission was made at the Diocesan Convention of 1841 by the missionary, the Rev. George S. Porter, in which he re- ports nine communicants, three marriages, two burials, public services fifty-seven, and records his obligations for two dozen prayer books from the Rev. Dr. Shelton, rector of St. Paul's church, Buffalo, N. Y. Janu- ary 1, 1842, the parish is reported vacant.
On the 25th of July, 1843, Bishop De Lancey visited the mission, and preached in the Presbyterian house. In 1845 the Rev. A. C. Treadway, missionary at Lewiston and Niagara Falls, reports to Con- vention, holding a service at Niagara Falls at 4 o'clock every Sunday afternoon ; communicants fifteen, increasing congregations ; the pros- pects of soon having a house of worship of "our own;" generous sub- scriptions by several gentlemen and the gift of two lots on First street near Falls street, one for a church, the other for a rectory, with a sub- stantial subscription therefor by "a young lady," viz .: Miss Elizabeth Porter.
The following year (1846) Bishop De Lancey gave his canonical con- sent to the organization of a parish at Niagara Falls, and the Rev. Mr. Treadway reports to Convention for that year, he having continued holding afternoon services at the Falls, as having organized a church there by the title of St. Peter's, and the contracting for the erection of a church building.
Judge Samnel De Veaux, Mr. Telyea and others exerted themselves
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in securing subscriptions and furthering on the work. Bishop William H. DeLancey, D. D., LL. D., D. C. L. (the first bishop of Western New York), having decided that the old organization of "Christ church" was now null and void, measures were taken for a new organization, which were perfected on the 28th day of December, 1846, in the legal title of "The Rector, Church Wardens and Vestrymen of St. Peter's church, in the Village of Niagara Falls, in the County of Niagara and the State of New York." The officers then elected were : Wardens, Messrs. Samuel De Veaux and George W. Holley, Vestrymen, Messrs. Christopher H. Smith, Michael Walsh, John Telyea, Abel M. Swallow, Hollis White, Cyrus F. Smith, Walter E. Hulett, Richard H. Woodruff. The church building was vigorously urged forward, so that the first service in the new St. Peter's church was held July 16, 1848, and at the time of Bishop De Lancey's visitation. The building was not entirely completed till March 4, 1849, when it was formally opened for divine service. The parish was at this time under the care of the Rev. Syl- vanus Reed, deacon, who remained six months, having previonsly en- gaged to go to "The Church of the Holy Innocent," Albany, when it should be completed. He was succeeded by the Rev. Edmund Rob- erts, deacon, June 15, 1850, who remained two years. Next in succes- sion was the Rev. Joseph M. Clark, deacon, who took charge of the par- ish August 8, 1852, and who was ordained priest the following year. The consecration of St. Peter's church took place May 3, 1853, by the Rt. Rev. William H. De Lancey, D.D., LL.D., D. C. L., bishop of Western New York. The Rt. Rev. the bishop of Toronto (Strachan) preached the consecration sermon.
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