USA > New York > Oneida County > Utica > Memorial history of Utica, N.Y. : from its settlement to the present time > Part 39
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1
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES.
church. At present the membership of the church is 298; of the Sun- school 150 pupils and 18 teachers. The deacons are William O. Will- iams, William W. Williams, William E. Jones, Edward H. Jones, Thomas G. Jones, David Anthony, David D. Griffiths.
Some time in the year 1841 a Congregational society, which had been organized the year before by Rev. Theodore Spencer, and which had wor- shipped in a room fitted up for the purpose in the Museum building, hired the Bleecker street church, then vacant, and occupied it for about three years. Mr. Spencer was endowed with a vigorous intellect, trained by the study and practice of the law before he entered upon the Christian ministry, and his character was marked by corresponding force and persistence. He was entitled by inheritance to these gifts of mind and character, for his father was New York's great chief justice, Ambrose Spencer, and he was a brother of Hon. John C. Spencer, of Canandaigua, U. S. secretary. After losing his voice Mr. Spencer had to give up his pulpit and all public speaking, whereupon his society was disbanded. He substituted conversation for sermons and reached a larger number than most preachers. Many of the most intelligent people of the city and from all denominations sought instruction from him. He had con- ceived a theory of conversion containing some peculiarities which he applied with great power and effect. He afterward accepted the secre- taryship of the Home Missionary Society and filled it with distinction, acting as a bishop of the feeble churches as well as gathering funds for the society. For twelve or fourteen years he was disqualified for labor by exhausting illness and died in Utica, July 14, 1870. He was twice married and the father of three sons.
Under the auspices of the New York Home Missionary Society on the 13th day of May, 1883, Rev. Edward Taylor, D.D., of Binghamton, began Congregational religious services in the common council chamber, the Bible, organ, and hymn books all being borrowed. These services were continued morning and evening for four Sabbaths, the congrega- tion numbering from forty to seventy. About thirty persons tarried after the morning service on the fourth Sabbath and voted that the meetings should be continued with reference to the organization of a Congregational Church, and that the vicinity of Oneida Square called for an enterprise of this character. The only place which could be ob-
414
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF UTICA.
tained there was a small room known as Dobson's Hall. This was secured, seats furnished for a little more than 100 persons, a preach- ing desk extemporized, and the hall was well filled each Sunday morning and crowded in the evening. The Plymouth Congregational Church organization was effected September 18, 1883. On August 26th a Sunday school of thirty-three scholars was organized. In the follow- ing year the society purchased property at the corner of Plant and State streets for $14,000, having one frame cottage and a brick dwelling standing upon it. On the vacant piece of land adjoining the cottage, on Plant street, a chapel has been erected at a cost of $6,560. It is a wooden structure and was first occupied January 25, 1885. A building fund has been started and the church will eventually build anew upon their site. Dr. Taylor closed his labors in this church March 30, 1884. Rev. Dwight E. Marvin succeeded him October 1, 1884, and continued until December 1, 1888. Rev. M. E. Dunham, D.D., the present pas- tor, began his labors March 1, 1889. The present membership of the church is 225. The deacons are Owen Baxter, Owen Griffith, and Chauncey B. Moore.
The Reformed Protestant (Dutch) Church in Utica grew out of the evangelical labors of Rev. John P. Spinner, pastor of the Reformed Church at Fort Herkimer, in 1801, and of Rev. Mr. Labagh, who visited this field as early as 1820. Mr. Spinner preached about 1823 in private rooms and occasionally in the Baptist Church when not used by that congregation. He appointed George M. Weaver and Adam Bowman as elders to assist in this evangelizing work. In the years 1824-25 services were held every alternate Sunday in the old Metho- dist Church on Main street, Utica, by Rev. Mr. Spinner. In 1826-27 services were held by Mr. Labagh in Washington Hall. In 1828 Rev. John F. Schermerhorn assumed charge of the field, and in June, 1830, the Broad street church was completed. It was a brick building, 75 x 54 feet in dimensions, and cost $20,000, and was located at the cor- ner of John and Broad streets. On October 26, 1830, the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church was organized with forty-six members and the following officers : Elders, Abraham Varick and George M. Weaver, jr .; deacons, Nicholas G. Weaver and Richard Vaughan. In November, 1830, Rev. George W. Bethune, then at Rhinebeck, became
415
PROTESTANT REFORMED CHURCH.
pastor and continued until June 18, 1834. His reputation for eloquence, scholarship, and graceful poetry was known throughout the country. Upwards of 130 were added to the communion during his pastorate. The Rev. Henry Mandeville, D.D., was installed on the 12th of October, 1834. A logically clear and instructive preacher, with strong, natural powers and much proof of various reading, he was afterward eminently successful as a teacher and author in rhetorical studies. He resigned January 20, 1841, in order to become a professor in Hamilton College. During his ministry there were 112 additions to the church. Rev. John P. Knox was installed on the 6th of October, 1841, and resigned Feb- ruary 16, 1844. At the close of his ministry the membership numbered 197. The Rev. Charles Wiley, D.D., was installed June 27, 1845, and resigned May 1, 1854. Dr. Wiley was a learned and finished writer. Rev. George H. Fisher, D.D., was installed January 1, 1855, and re- signed July 13, 1859,-an earnest and faithful preacher, zealous for the interests of the denomination as well as for his own individual church, broad in his sympathies, and a son of consolation among the afflicted. The next preacher was Rev. Charles E. Knox, who began his labors July 29, 1860, but deferred his installation. He resigned August 4, 1862. Rev. Ashbel G. Vermilye, D.D., was installed May 14, 1863, and resigned July 31, 1871. During his incumbency a new church was built on the corner of Genesee and Cornelia streets. He was followed by Rev. Isaac S. Hartley, D.D., whose installation took place Novem- ber 16, 1871, and his resignation September 1, 1889. It was while he was pastor that the church was destroyed by fire and handsomely re- built. Rev. Oren Root, of Hamilton College, became the supply in the fall of 1889 and assumed charge of the church as pastor in the follow- ing spring. The present church is of brick with stone trimmings, and of the Queen Anne style of architecture. It has a seating capacity of 700. The present membership is about 125 and of the Sunday school 160.
Trinity Church (Episcopal), as we have already learned, was organ- ized in the year 1798 by the Rev. Philander Chase, afterward bishop of Illinois. For a period of five years services were imperfectly main- tained by lay-reading, and it was not until the year 1803 that measures were taken toward the building of a church edifice. In that year
416
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF UTICA.
John R. Bleecker, of Albany, gave a lot on the corner of Broad and First streets, 100 feet front and 127 feet deep, in fulfillment of a promise that such a gift would be made to that religious society which should first undertake the erection of a church edifice. On the basis of a subscrip- tion of a little more than $2,000 the building was commenced, but it was not until the year 1806 that it was so far completed that Bishop Moore was induced to consecrate it. In December, 1810, it was fin- ished, having cost $7,140. Of this sum $2,000 was contributed by Trinity Church, New York. The building, an unpretentious yet taste- ful structure, was designed by Philip Hooker, of Albany, an architect who did some good work in his day, as witness in his own city old St. Peter's Church, the old State capitol, and the academy. The first chosen officers of the church were Abraham Walton and Nathan Will- iams, wardens; William Inman, Charles Walton, John Smith, Benjamin Walker, Samuel Hooker, Aylmer Johnson, James Hopper, and Edward Smith, vestrymen. The first minister in charge was the Rev. Jonathan Judd, who officiated from 1804 to 1806 alternately here and at Paris Hill, though not continuously in either place. The first rector was the Rev. Amos G. Baldwin, who held that position from 1806 to 1818. He constructed with his own hands the first organ in the church having a manual or key-board. This organ did good service for many years in Christ Church, Sherburne, and can now be seen, with some enlarge- ments and improvements, in the Presbyterian Church at New York Mills. Mr. Baldwin died at Auburn in 1844.
Through the influence of Col. Benjamin Walker, who may be regarded as the lay founder of Trinity Church, the Countess of Bath (England) was induced in 1808 to give to the church 265 acres of land in the town of Eaton, Madison County. This gift was of no great benefit to the church. The income from it was small and hard to collect, and finally, in the year 1815, the land was sold for a sum of money barely nominal. Nearly contemporaneous with the donation from the Countess of Bath was one from the corporation of Trinity Church, New York, of three lots in Reade street and one in Clark street in that city. Two of the Reade street lots and the one in Clark street are still the property of the church in Utica. The income from the whole property, though comparatively small, has been of essential service.
417
TRINITY CHURCH.
In the year 1819 Mr. Baldwin was succeeded in the rectorship by the Rev. Henry M. Shaw, who remained about two years. Rev. Henry Anthon was rector from 1821 to 1829, in which year he accepted a call to St. Stephen's Church in New York, afterward becoming assistant minister in Trinity Church, and finally spending the last twenty years of his life as rector of St. Mark's in the Bowery. Rev. Mr. Anthon's pastorate was most gratifying and successful. His sermons were marked by purity, beauty, and finish of style, and in both them and his conver- sation there was a racy flavor of strength that betokened ability of a high order. He was an attentive and indefatigable pastor and a genial and faithful friend. It was during Mr. Anthon's pastorate that the first rectory was built in rear of the church. The next rector was the Rev. Benjamin Dorr, whose"ministry extended from 1829 to 1831, when he resigned the charge. He was afterward rector of Christ Church, Phil- adelphia. Dr. Dorr was succeeded in 1836 by the Rev. Pierre Alexis Proal, who came from St. George's Church, Schenectady. His pastor- ate was much longer than that of either of his predecessors, terminating with his death in September, 1857. He was one of the most scholarly and oratorical of the preachers of the city. For a long period he was annually elected secretary of the Diocesan Convention of Central New York. He was a trustee of Hamilton College, and was frequently called upon to fill other posts of educational and religious importance. He was succeeded by the Rev. Samuel Hanson Coxe, whose ministry continued to November, 1877. He was followed in February, 1878, by the Rev. Charles H. Gardner, who resigned in October, 1886. The present rector, the Rev. William D. Maxon, took charge of the church in April, 1887.
The present wardens of the church are Miles C. Comstock and William M. Storrs. The membership of the society is 270 and of the Sunday school 105. The present valuation of the church property is : church, $15,000; rectory, $4,500; chapel and lot, $5,000.
The dimensions of the church edifice were originally 45 x 60 feet, be- sides a recessed chancel and contiguous robing-rooms. In 1833 it was lenghtened twenty feet by extending the front to the sidewalk, and the steeple and entire front were rebuilt on new foundations In 1857 re- pairs to the amount of $6,000 were made. The present bell was pur- chased and hung during the winter of 1818, and for nearly seventy-
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418
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF UTICA.
five years its iron tongue has called worshipers to the shrine. The structure is cherished, not only because it is a comfortable and pleasant house of worship, but also because it has great historic interest, and is a landmark and monument of the early growth of the city.
There is a mission at Deerfield in connection with this church known as St. Paul's. It was established by Rev. Mr. Gardner and has services once each month. The members are considered a part of Trinity Church.
Grace Church (Episcopal) was originally a portion of Trinity parish. The church was incorporated May 21, 1838, and services were held at first in a small room at No. 215 Genesee street. The Rev. Albert C.
Patterson was chosen rector April 19, 1839. The first wardens were Dr. P. B. Peckham and Ziba Lyon. A lot was leased on the corner of Broadway and Columbia streets for a period of ten years, and the first church edifice was erected there and opened for divine service in Au- gust, 1839. The building was enlarged in 1841 at an expense of $1,500. On November 4, 1847, plans were prepared for a new church edifice. The rector having at this time resigned Rev. George Leeds was called as his successor. He resigned in July, 1853, to accept a call to Salem, Mass. The Rev. John J. Brandegee came to the parish early in 1854. The work of building a new church now rapidly progressed. The pres- ent site, corner of Elizabeth and Genesee streets, was selected and pur- chased with the aid of the late Alfred Munson, who gave $10,000 toward that object, to which he added $5,000 toward the erection of the church. Mr. Upjohn, of New York, was the architect. The build- ing committee consisted of the rector and J. W. Williams, David Wa- ger, G. R. Perkins, E. A. Graham, and George H. Wiley. The church proper was finished in 1860, the tower in 1870, and the spire in 1875 ; the latter was erected by Mrs. James Watson Williams as a memorial to her father and her husband. There is an excellent chime of ten memo- rial bells in the tower. The entire cost of the edifice was $120,000. Its seating capacity is 800.
Beginning in 1884 a series of parish rooms was erected adjoining the church, consisting of vestry, choir, and Bible-class rooms and a study for the rector. These were finished in 1888. In 1890 the old chancel was removed and a new one, larger and more elaborate, was put up in its place. All of these were the gifts of Mrs. James Watson Williams. In
419
GRACE AND CALVARY CHURCHES.
the same year the congregation purchased a new organ at a cost of $10,000. At the death of Dr. Brandegee in 1864 the Rev. Edward M. Van Deusen, who came from St. Peter's Church, Pittsburgh, Pa., be - came rector of the church. On account of ill health he resigned in Feb- ruary, 1884, and was succeeded by the present pastor, Rev. Charles T. Olmsted. The wardens at the present time are: William H. Watson, M.D., and L. C. Childs. The church membership is 500; Sabbath school 210.
Of the foregoing rectors, while all are remembered with respect and affection, it is with especial tenderness that are recalled the finished ser- monizer, the courteous, gentle, and loving Leeds; the self-denying la- bors of his successor, Dr. Brandegee, who superintended the erection of the present edifice ; and the dignified and courtly Dr. Van Deusen, effi- cient in zeal for the prosperity of his church and its charities, and through whom much was accomplished toward its usefulness and suc- cess. It was during his rectorship that St. Luke's Hospital and Home, the House of the Good Shepherd, and St. Luke's Memorial Church all had their origin and largely his aid.
In January, 1850, the Rev. Beardsley Northrup, at the suggestion of the Rev. Dr. Proal, then rector of Trinity Church, and with the approval of the bishop of the diocese, began holding services in a small school- house on the corner of West and Eagle streets. Three months later a larger room on Chatham street was obtained and used for about a year and a half. The parish began its corporate existence under the name of Calvary Church on the 15th of December, 1850. A lot on South street, where the old church now stands, was secured by L. M. Taylor from the Bleecker and Tibbitts estate, and a church capable of seating 300 persons and costing $2,700 was erected. It was afterward twice enlarged to meet the growing congregation. In 1859 a house on the corner of South and Neilson streets was purchased for a rectory site at a cost of $1,600. Later a lot on South street opposite the old church was purchased for $1,500 as a site for a new church. In 1869 the lot and rectory on South street were sold for $6,000, and a better site on the corner of Howard avenue and South street was purchased with a commodious house for a parsonage, the whole costing $10,000. The new church, which was designed by Henry M. Congdon, was begun on
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF UTICA.
the 14th of June, 1869, and finished in the fall of 1872. The congre- gation was greatly aided in the work by the liberal gifts of Jason G. Coye and George J. Hopper, now deceased. The new church cost $50, - 000. In 1880 the chapel was thoroughly repaired at an expense of $500. The church was consecrated by the Rev. F. D. Huntington, S.T.D., bishop of the diocese, January 18. 1884. The Rev. William A. Matson was the first rector of the parish, assuming the duties on the 1 st of May, 1851, and was assisted by Mr. Northrup above mentioned. Rev. Mr. Matson resigned March 16, 1854, and Rev. Henry A. Neely, who had served as assistant about a year, succeeded him. He left the parish in August, 1855, at the request of the bishop to undertake a sin- ilar work in Rochester, where he was subsequently rector of Christ Church. Later he was chaplain of Hobart College, Geneva, assistant minister in Trinity Church, New York, and bishop of the diocese of Maine.
The Rev. N. Barrows became rector in August, 1855. Receiving a call to Zion Church, Rome, he tendered his resignation April 28, 1857. During the following two years Rev. Mr. Matson was the pastor and went from here to the De Lancey Memorial Church, Geneva, N. Y., where he received the title of D.D. from Hobart College. The present rector, Alfred B. Goodrich, D.D., entered upon the charge August 21, 1859. He has repeatedly refused calls to other fields of labor. For his long continued faithfulness not the church alone but the town feels a debt of gratitude. At present the number of communicants in the church is 446 ; Sunday school scholars 335. The present wardens are Alonzo Churchill, M.D., and Irvin A. Williams.
St. George's Protestant Church (Episcopal) was authorized by Bishop De Lancey and the standing committee of the diocese in January, 1862, to replace the former parish of St. Paul's, organized in 1849 and afterward allowed to die out. At that time (1862) all existing churches of the Protestant Episcopal communion were located on the east side of Gen- esee street. The corner-stone of St. George's was laid May 5, 1862. The first election of wardens and vestry took place May 19, 1862, and the church was ready for occupation in the fall. It stands on State street near its intersection with Cottage street. It is of wood and will seat 400 persons. The church with its furnishing cost about $5,000.
42 J
ST. GEORGE'S AND ST. LUKE'S CHURCHES.
The furnishings are the gift of Horatio Seymour ; the stained glass win- dows of C. P. Davis, of Utica. The church was consecrated by Bishop De Lancey on June 7, 1864. In the rear of the church is a wooden building 22 x 40 feet, erected in 1873, and named the "mission room," it having been opened with mission services by the Rev. J. W. Bonham of the Church of the Evangelist. It is now used for Sunday school, week day services, and parochial festivals. The first rector of the church was Rev. W. J. Gibson, D.D., then editor of the Gospel Messenger. He was succeeded in 1866 by Rev. S. F. Jarvis, of Connecticut, who was soon followed by Rev. E. W. Hager. The latter resigned in 1873, having received the appointment of chaplain in the United States navy, and the duties of the parish were then resumed by Rev. W. J. Gibson, D.D. He was succeeded in 1883 by Rev. W. B. Coleman, jr., the present rector. The present wardens are W. M. Gibson, M.D., and Edward Trevett. The present communicant list of the church is 160 members ; of the Sunday school 90 with eight teachers.
St. Luke's Memorial Church (Episcopal) began as a mission of Grace Church in 1869 in a room of St. Luke's Home for Aged Women on Columbia street. The following year a lot adjoining the Home was given by Truman K. Butler for future church building purposes, and a handsome stone church was soon erected. It was consecrated on Oc- tober 18, 1876, and cost with its contents about $22,000. It has a seat- ing capacity of about 400. From 1869 to 1876 the parish was served by the assistants of Grace Church, Dr. E. M. Van Deusen being pastor of the parish. In June, 1876, Rev. Barnard Schulte was called to the charge with the title of associate rector of St. Luke's . Memorial Church. This relation of associate rector was dissolved in June, 1880, and the clergyman in charge now bears the title of rector according to the order of the Protestant Episcopal Church of America. Mr. Schulte is still in charge of this parish. The rectory of the church, 192 Colum - bia street, was purchased by the congregation in 1886 and with the ad- joining house is valued at about $8,000. The church membership is 600 ; Sabbath school scholars 583. The present wardens are Jonathan Aucock and Henry Hopson.
In 1871 the late Evan R. Goodwin and the late Philip Herbert in- augurated a movement tending to the establishment of Episcopal serv-
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF UTICA.
ices in East Utica. An upper room on Elizabeth street was soon ob- tained and services of the Memorial Church of the Holy Cross (Episco- pal) were regularly held, being conducted at times by Rev. Samuel H. Coxe, of Trinity Church, or Rev. Alfred B. Goodrich, of Calvary Church, or some other of the clergy .. The worshipers were then known as the Mission of the Good Shepherd. Rev. Edward Z. Lewis was the first pastor and continued as such until his death in 1874. He secured the erection of a frame building on Mohawk street, which was afterward moved to the lot purchased on Bleecker street and enlarged. It is still being used for worship. The first Sunday school superintend - ent was Edward Peckham. In January, 1889, the Rev. James J. Burd became and still is the resident pastor. On October 9, 1890, the corner- stone of a new stone church on Bleecker street was laid by the Rt. Rev. F. D. Huntington, bishop of the diocese of Central New York. The building is in the English style of architecture, was designed by James Constable, jr., of Utica, and cost about $25,000. There are ninety families represented in the church and a Sunday school of about 180 members.
Wherever there is a pioneer settlement there will be found earnest Christians of the Methodist denomination, often meeting together and exhorting one another to good works. Such was the case in Utica for some years before they had a place of worship in the little village. The first Methodist sermon in Utica was preached by Freeborn Garrettson in 1792. In that year, in the capacity of presiding elder of the Albany district, he made a journey as far west as Whitestown and prepared the way for the establishment of regular appointments, and for embracing this region within the bounds of a circuit on the Mohawk River. At first the members of this faith residing here were attached to a class that met in a small church on the road to New Hartford. The relic of that church still remains and may be identified as a part of the small white dwelling house directly opposite the west end of Pleasant street. In 1808 Solomon Bronson, a man of means and influence living near this church, was converted, and being earnest and zealous, a good singer and exhorter, he used to come down to Utica and hold meetings in a building back of the line of Genesee street and in the rear of where the store of Newell & Co. now stands, which building was designed and
423
FIRST METHODIST CHURCH.
used as a school-house. This, then, was the first place of meeting and here the society had occasional preaching. J. Huestes, Benjamin G. Paddock, and Charles Giles preached in that school-house while they traveled the circuit which included Utica, and which was known as the Westmoreland circuit. But very soon-probably in 1808-Rudolph Snyder built for the society a house of worship on ground situated where the southern end of the Bradish block now stands, beside the shop of his brother Jacob, which occupied the corner of Elizabeth street. It was a small wooden building of a single story, and was in- tended for a school-house as well as a church. It was occupied by the society about six years. Through the influence of Solomon Bronson quite a number were converted, and the influence of Methodism in Utica began to be strongly felt. Preaching in this place was for several years only occasional, for the little house near the gate on the New 'Hartford road was also maintained by them as a place of assemblage. In 1815 Utica was erected into a station of the recently formed Oneida district of the Genesee Conference. Rev. Benjamin G. Paddock was appointed preacher in charge and a powerful revival was the result of his labors. The society now centered in the village and was legally incorporated under the title of the First Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Utica. Some of the first trustees were Rudolph Snyder, Robert Mc- Bride, J. C. De Long, Erastus Cross, and Ara Broadwell. The build- ing on the New Hartford road was sold to Levi Thomas for 70,000 brick, and with these and additional ones a new house was built under the supervision of Mr. Paddock, who raised the necessary funds. It stood on the north side of Main street, at its extreme eastern end, a little west of Ballou's Creek and nearly opposite the extremity of Third street, and was a small, plain chapel without spire or cupola. It was dedicated August 16, 1816, by Rev. Daniel Hitt, then general book steward in New York, Charles Giles being presiding elder. The pastors who were successively placed in charge during the years that this chapel was in use were as follows : 1816, B. G. Paddock; 1817, George Gary ; 1818, W. Barlow; 1821, B. G. Paddock; 1822-23, George Peck ; 1824, George Harmon ; in 1825 Paris and Utica were united under the charge of Z. Paddock and Ephraim Hall. It was during this year that the chapel on Bleecker street was built. It was dedicated February 22,
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