USA > New York > Tioga County > Owego > Owego. Some account of the early settlement of the village in Tioga County, N.Y., called Ah-wa-ga by the Indians, which name was corrupted by gradual evolution into Owago, Owego, Owegy and finally Owego > Part 36
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The new manse on the north side of Temple street, nearly opposite Church street, was built in 1888 at a cost of about $4,000.
The brick session house, or chapel, now standing on the church grounds in Temple street was built in the sun- mer of 1859 by Chauncey Hungerford and A. H. Keeler. It is 58 by 32 feet in size. Mr. Hungerford, who received $1,775 for building the chapel, to- gether with the old ssesion house, sold the session house for $150 to the A. M. E. society and it was removed to Fox street, where it is still used by that society as its church.
Rev. Aaron Putnam's pastorate here closed with his death on Dec. 28, 1831. He was born in 1789 at Pomfret, Conn. His father whose name was also Aaron Putnam, preached fifty years in the New England Congregational church at Pomfret. In early life he was in business in Philadelphia with his father-in-law, Mr. Green, but gave up business to study for the ministry. His grandmother was the widow of
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Mr. Avery, whose daughter was the wife of Gen. Israel Putnam of revolu- tionary fame and was an own cousin of his father, Rev. Aaron Putnam, of Pomfret. Mr. Putnam came to Owego from Philadelphia. William F. War- ner, in his centennial history of Tioga county (1876) says of Mr. Putnam:
"The four years of this most excel- lent man's ministry at Owego were a time of delightful memories. It was at a period when there was a deep in- terest in religious matters throughout the country. The remarkable preach- ing of Rev. Asahel Nettleton, D. D., of Connecticut, and the publication by him of the collection of devotional hymns known as "The Village Hymns," in 1842 had awakened pro- found interest far and wide. But per- haps nowhere was the Influence of the excellent Dr. Nettleton more felt, nor his manners and mode of conducting religious services more closely fol- lowed with similar results, than here under the ministry of Mr. Putnam. His style of preaching, like Dr. Nettle- ton's, was highly emotional, yet sob- ered by a moderation that prevented Its reaching the point of excess. In the full tide of his ministry, his life was terminated,amid the grievous lam- entation of the people, by whom he was universally loved."
Rev. Charles White was one of the ablest men that ever lilled a pulpit at Owego. He was born at Randolph, Mass., Dec. 28, 1795, and was gradu- ated from Dartmouth college in IS21 with the first honors of his class. He concluded his studies at Andover theo- logical seminary in 1824. From Jan. 1, 1825, he was settled over a Congre- gational church at Thetford, Vt., as collegiate pastor with his step-father, Rev. Dr. Burton. Four years later he became pastor of the Presbyterian church at Cazenovia, N. Y., where he remained until called to Owego in the
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spring of 1832. In 1841 he resigned his pastorate here and went to Craw- fordsville, Ind., where on July 19, 1842, he became president of Wabash col- lege, succeeding E. W. Baldwin, D. D., who had died on the 15th of the pre- vious October, falling dead while writ- ing a sermon in the evening.
Upon the removal of Mr. White from Owego, N. P. Willis wrote a poem entitled, "On the Departure of Rev. Mr. White from His Parish," the opening lines of which read as fol- lows:
Leave us not, man of prayer! Like Paul, hast thou "Served God with all humility of mind,"
Dwelling among us, and "with many tears,"
"From house to house," by night and day not ceasing,
Hast pleaded thy best errand. Leave us not ! Leave us not now !
Rev. Samuel Corlyus Wilcox was born Dec. 21, 1809, at Sandisfield, Mass., and was graduated in 1835 from Williams college. He afterward taught three years in the Lenox, Mass., academy and then entered Au- burn theological seminary, from which he was graduated in 1840. He then supplied the Congregational church at Berkshire one year. In the spring of 1842 he became pastor of the Owego Presbyterian church, and preached here until April, 1846, when he re- signed on account of lack of sympathy between himself and his elders on the subject of slavery and constitutional polity. In February, 1847, he went to Williamsburg, Mass., where he was for two years pastor of the Congrega- tional church. In 1849 he returned to Owego at the solicitation of many members of his former congregation, who desired to form a new church and society. He became pastor of the Congregational church, which had
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seceded from the Presbyterian so- ciety. He was a man of greater men- tal than physical strength, and was compelled on account of ill health to resign the pastorate on Sept. 11, 1853. In company with Rev. Corbin Kidder he established a school for boys, one and one-half miles east of this village, and lived there until his death six months later, on March 26, 1854.
Rev. Seth Williston returned to Owego and became pastor of the church in July, 1846. He was a man of remarkable energy and ability. At this time he was nearly eighty years of age, but retained his physical and mental vigor. He was held in high estimation as a scholar and profound theologian.
Rev. Philip Cortland Hay was a son of General Philip Hay, who was a member of Gen. Washington's staff auring the revolutionary war and one of the founders of the society of the Cincinnati, a military association formed by officers of the revolutionary army. Before coming to Owego he had been for ten years pastor of the First Presbyterian church of Geneva, N. Y., where he began his ministry Feb. 3, 1836. He was dismissed April 9, 1846, and six days afterward became pastor of the church at Owego. Mr. Hay re- signed his pastorate here in Septem- ber, 1855, owing to ill health and re- moved to Orange, N. J., where he died Jan. 27, 1866. William F. Warner in his centennial history of Tioga county says of Dr. Hay:
"Eminently genial in social life, Dr. Hay was a man of great excellence of character, solid rather than brilliant, and sound and conservative in his views upon every subject. He was
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held in high estimation by the clergy of the Presbyterian denomination, and was a safe and wise counsellor."
Samuel Hanson Cox was one of the most famous preachers of his time. He was born at Leesville, New Jersey, in 1793 of a Quaker family. He aban- doned the study of law for the min- istry and was ordained July 1, 1817. He became pastor of the Spring street Presbyterian church in New York city in 1820. On account of his activity in the anti-slavery movement his house and church were sacked by a mob July 10, 1834. The same year he was appointed professor of sacred rhetoric in Auburn theological seminary. From 1837 to 1854 he was pastor of the First Presbyterian church of Brooklyn, and most of this time was also professor of ecclesiastical history in Union theo- logical seminary, New York. In June, 1853, his voice having failed, he came to Owego to visit his early college friend, Rev. Philip C. Hay. In Noveni- ber of the same year he purchased the "Vesper Cliff" property. In the fol- lowing May he resigned the pastorate of the Brooklyn church and removed here for the benefit of his health. When Dr. Hay resigned the pastorate of the Owego church, in 1855, Mr. Cox succeeded him and was pastor of the church until April, 1866, when he re- signed to take the presidency of the Female Collegiate Institute at LeRoy, Genesee county, N. Y. During the last twenty years of his life he lived in re- tirement. He died at Bronxville, N. Y., Oct. 4, 1880, aged 86 years. One of Mr. Cox's sons was Right Reverend Arthur Cleveland Coxe, Bishop of the Prostestant Episcopal church of the diocese of western New York, and an-
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other was Rev. Dr. Samuel Hanson Coxe, who was rector of St. Peter's Episcopal church at Auburn and after- ward for twenty years rector of Trinity church at Utica.
Rev. Samuel H. Hall was born at Geneva, N. Y., in 1819, and was grad- uated from Union college in 1837 and from Union theological seminary in 1843. His first pastoral charge was at Marshall, Mich. Thence he went to Syracuse as pastor of the Park Pres- byterian church, where he remained six years. He began his ministry at Owego Feb. 24, 1857. He resigned his pastorate here in May, 1864, and went with the union army to Virginia under the auspices of the Christian Commis- sion. From 1866 to 1888 he was sec- retary of the American Seamen's Friend society. He died Oct. 10, 1890, at Newark, N. J.
Rev. Solon Cobb came to Owego in the summer of 1864 from New Bed- ford, Mass. He resigned the pastorate five years afterward and in Septem- ber, 1869, became pastor of a church at Medford, Mass. Thence he went to Erie, Pa., and thence in February, 1875, to become pastor of the Point Breeze Presbyterian church in a suburb of that city. He died May 26, 1900, in Pittsburg, aged 62 years. Pre- vious to his leaving Owego the mem- bers of his church and congregation at a meeting in the session house presented him with a handsome silver pitcher as a testimonial of their love and affection.
Rev. S. T. Clarke, a son of Rev. Dr. Walter Clarke, of Buffalo, preached here six years and resigned to accept a call to the Lake Street Presbyterian church at Elmira. He was several
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years afterward pastor of the Presby- terian church at Aurora, N. Y., and. later pastor of the churches at Port- ville and Mt. Morris, N. Y.
Rev. Luther A. Ostrander came to Owego in 1876 from Dubuque, Iowa. Earlier in life he had been first tutor in Robert college, Constantinople, Tur- key, whence he came to Dubuque, where he was pastor of the First Pres- byterian church four or five years. In November, 1882, he resigned his pas- torate at Owego in order to accept a call to the First Presbyterian church of Lyons, N. Y.
Rev. William H. Gill went from Owego to Philadelphia where he lived during the rest of his life. His health became impaired and he retired from the ministry, and he was employed as a writer for a religious newspaper. He died in Philadelphia in 1906.
Rev. Alexander Cameron Mackenzie was graduated in December, 1885, from Auburn theological seminary and was ordained pastor of this church May 25, 1886. Ten years later, in the summer of 1896, he engaged in rais- ing $100,000 by subscription to in- crease the endowment fund of Elmira female college. In April, 1897, he re- signed his pastorate to accept the presidency of that college.
Rev. George D. Young was born in 1864 in New York city. He was grad- uated from New York university in 1887 and from Princeton seminary in 1897. He was ordained pastor of this church Oct. 8, 1897.
Sunday morning, December 28, 1890, the centennial of the advent of Pres- byterianism in Owego was celebrated with appropriate exercises. Mr. Mac- Kenzie preached a historical sermon,
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reviewing church events of the pre- ceding one hundred years. In the af- ternoon a union service of the Pres byterian, Congregational, Baptist, and Methodist churches was held.
The "Owego Independent Congrega- tional Society," Its Meeting Houses and Its Pastors from the Time of Its Separation from the Presbyter- ian Society in 1849 to the Present Time.
There was a long a diversity of opinion in relation to the ecclesiasti- cal character of the church known as the "Owego Congregational Society," which led to an estrangement of feel- ing among its members. The First Presbyterian church had been incor- porated by act of the legislature as the First Congregational church, and as such it had been legally known from its foundation. In the course of years, without any official or church action, the form of government was changed into a semi-Presbyterian form.
In February, 1843, during the pas- torate of Rev. Samuel C. Wilcox, a meeting was held at the session house in Temple street for the purpose of changing the form of church govern- ment from Presbyterian to Congrega- tional. The proposition was freely discussed, but the preponderance of opinion appeared to be against the proposition and no action was taken.
In 1846 a portion of the church deemed it proper that the matter should be fully investigated and all the facts made known to the society. To bring about this end a public in- vitation was given at a meeting at the session house on Jan. 6, 1846, to the
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members of the church to meet at the same place Jan. 14. At this second meeting both interests were repre- sented, and a committee, composed of Dr. Lucius H. Allen, Henry W. Camp, and Andrew H. Calhoun, was ap- pointed to make the requisite exam- ination. The committee's report, dated Feb. 19, 1847, was printed in a pamphlet of sixteen pages in July, 1847.
In December, 1849, the long talked of division of the church on the gov- ernment question was consummated, the Congregational portion of the so- ciety having taken letters preparatory to organizing a new society. At a special meeting on Dec. 31 forty-six persons were upon their own request dismissed, for the purpose of forming the new "Owego Independent Congre- gational Society," which was regularly organized at a meeting of the eccles- iastical council at the session house Feb. 19, 1850. Rev. Richard S. Storrs, of Brooklyn, preached at the public services in the afternoon and Rev. Joseph P. Thompson, of New York, in the evening. At the time of this or- ganization Rev. Samuel C. Wilcox had returned from New York to assume the pastorate of the new church.
The meetings of the new society were held at the court nouse until a new church was built in 1851. In Jan- uary of that year the society pur- chased of Thomas I. Chatfield for $900 the lot on the west side of Park street, still owned and occupied by the so- ciety. A contract was made with Chauncey Hungerford, the builder of the Presbyterian church, and James Hill to erect a new church edifice for $5,100. The church, as shown in the
The First Congregational Church, Built in 1851 and Burned in 1877.
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engraving accompanying this article, was completed that year. This was the largest church at that time in the village. In the steeple was placed a bell weighing 1,874 pounds, the largest bell then in Owego. The church was dedicated in the afternoon of Tuesday, Feb. 3, 1852. The dedication sermon was preached by Rev. R. E. Eggles- ton, of Brooklyn. Mr. Wilcox and the pastors of three other Owego churches assisted in the exercises. In August, 1863, a new session house was erected in the rear of the church.
The church and session house were burned in the morning of Dec. 3, 1877. by a fire which broke out near a chim- ney behind the organ in the wall be- tween the church and the Sunday school room. Nothing was saved from the church except a large bible and the pulpit chairs.
Plans were at once made to build a new church on the site of the old one. At a meeting at L. N. Chamberlain's house, a committee was appointed to raise funds, prepare plans, etc., for a new church to cost from $10,000 to $12,000, the insurance money on the old church, $7,500, to be applied in part payment. In the mean time re- ligious services were held at the court house. A building committee com- posed of L. N. Chamberlain, John J. Hooker, Frank L. Jones, Roger B. Howell, and the pastor, Rev. W. C. Scofield, was appointed. The archi- tect of the church was L. B. Valk, of New York city. It was built of brick, with stone trimmings, by Harrison Bros., of Fredonia, N. Y., and cost when completed $10,285. The building was 52 feet wide and 921/2 feet deep. An excellent view of the church is
The Second Congregational Church, Built in 1878.
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shown in the engraving. The new church was dedicated Dec. 11, 1878, Rev. Thomas K. Beecher, of Elmira, preaching the dedication sermon.
There have been seventeen pastors of this church since its organization, as follows:
Rev. Samuel C. Wilcox, 1849-Sept. 11, 1853.
Rev. Corbin Kidder, Sept. 11, 1853- Jan. 1, 1854.
Rev. Wm. H. Corning, March 8, 1854- May 1, 1857.
Rev. Wm. Alvin Bartlett, Sept. 12, 1857-28 March, 1858.
Rev. Samuel Mclellan Gould, Sept. 11, 1858-April 1, 1859.
Rev. Moses Coit Tyler, May 1, 1859- June 24, 1860.
Rev. Wm. W. Page, Dec. 9, 1860-Dec. 1, 1861.
Rev. Charles Hall Everest, Jan. 1, 1862-Dec. 31, 1864.
Rev. Chas. H. A. Bulkley, May 13, 1865-Jan. 1, 1867.
Rev. James C. Beecher, May 4, 1867- May 1, 1871.
Rev. Dwight W. Marsh, Aug. 1, 1871- April 1, 1876.
Rev. Wm. C. Scofield, June 19, 1877- Oct. 19, 1880.
Rev. Rufus Underwood, April, 1880- Oct., 1880.
Rev. Miles G. Bullock, April 4, 1881- Oct. 19, 1886.
Rev. Olin R. Howe, Feb. 3, 1887-Nov. 11, 1888.
Rev. D. W. Teller, Dec. 20, 1888- Sept. 3, 1893.
Rev. Chas. M. Bartholomew, Jan. 7, 1894-
Rev. Samuel C. Wilcox was born at Sandisfield, Mass., Dec. 21, 1809. He was graduated from Williams college in 1835 and taught for three years thereafter in Lenox academy. He studied theology at Auburn seminary, graduating therefrom in 1840. He sup- plied the Congregational church at Berkshire one year and then came to
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Owego, where he became pastor of the Presbyterian church. He was after- ward pastor of the Congregational church at Williamsburg, Mass., in 1847 and 1848. The next year he returned to Owego, to assist in forming the new Congregational church. He resigned the pastorate of this church in Sep- tember, 1853.
Rev. Corbin Kidder was born at Wardsboro, Vt., June 1, 1801. He was graduated from Amherst college in 1828 and from Andover theological seminary in 1832. From 1834 to 1837 he was pastor of the Congregational church at Saxonville, Mass., and dur- ing two years thereafter was agent for the American tract society. From 1839 to 1845 he was pastor of the Con- gregational church at West Brattle- boro, Vt. From 1845 to 1853 he preached at Warsaw, Dryden, and Groton in this state. He came to Owego in the fall of 1853 and preached here four months. Then in company with his predecessor in the pastorate of this church, Mr. Wilcox, he opened a school for boys about a mile and a half east of this village in a farm house, which was burned several years ago and which stood where the home of Harry B. Tilbury is now. Mr. Wilcox, who had resigned the pastorate of the church on account of ill health, died there March 26, 1854. Mr. Kidder con- tinued the school after Mr. Wilcox's death a few years. Then he went to Spencer, and was pastor of the church there from 1858 to 1862. He subse- quently preached at Churchville, N. Y .: Orland, Ind., and at Poplar Grove, Ill., where he died Dec. 29, 1874.
William H. Corning, who was the first settled pastor of this church, was
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born at Hartford, Conn., Dec. 15, 1820. He was graduated in 1842 from Trinity college and later from Yale theological seminary. From 1848 to 1851 he was pastor of the Congrega- tional church at Clinton, Mass. He came to Owego in January, 1854, and preached here three years until May, 1857, when he resigned on account of ill health. He died at Saratoga Springs Oct. 9, 1862.
William Alvin Bartlett was one of the brightest and ablest of the young sensational preachers of his day. He was born Dec. 4, 1832, at Binghamton and was a son of Joseph Bartlett, of that city, who had been a resident of Owego several years previous. He was graduated from Hamilton college in 1852. He studied theology at Union seminary and then went to Germany and studied in Berlin. He was matri- culated from the university at Halle in 1857. He came to Owego the same year and was ordained pastor of the Owego church Sept. 12. He was im- mensely popular and the church was crowded to listen to his eloquent ser- vices, particularly Sunday evenings. His reputation extended beyond Owe- go, and a year later he received a call to the pastorate of the Elm Place Con- gregational church in Brooklyn, N. Y. He preached there ten years, from Sept. 5, 1858, until Nov. 30, 1868, when he accepted a call to the pastorate of Plymouth Congregational church of Chicago with a salary of $5,000 a year, succeeding Rev. Lewis Matson, who had died. Mr. Matson was born at Owego and was a son of Newell Mat- son, one of the organizers of the Owe- go Congregational church. In Septem- ber, 1876, Mr. Bartlett resigned the
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pastorate of Plymouth church to ac- cept a call to the Second Presbyterian church of Indianapolis, Ind., of which Rev. Henry Ward Beecher had some time previously been pastor, refusing to accept any increase in salary from the Indianapolis church. To accept this pastorate he was subjected to a rigorous examination of the Presby- tery and was installed according to Presbyterian forms and usages. In April, 1882, Mr. Bartlett received and accepted a unanimous call to the New York Avenue Presbyterian church at Washington, D. C. He was installed as pastor of the church October of that year. In October, 1894, after hav- ing been thirty-seven years in the ministry and for twelve years pastor of the New York Avenue church, Mr. Bartlett resigned on account of ill health and travelled in Europe. Since leaving Washington he has had no settled pastorate, having permanently retired from active church work.
Samuel Mclellan Gould was born at Gorham, Mass., Jan. 24, 1809. He en- tered Bowdoin college, but did not graduate, and studied theology after- ward with clergymen at East Hart- ford, Conn., and Troy, N. Y. From 1837 to 1851 he preached at Norris- town, Pa., and from 1853 to 1857 at Biddeford, Maine. The next year he came to Owego, but remained only four months. He afterward preached at Allentown and Emporium, Pa.
Moses Coit Tyler was one of the most noted of all the pastors of this church. He was born Aug. 2, 1835, at Griswold, Conn. He was graduated from Yale college in 1857 and from Andover theological seminary in 1859. He came immediately after his gradu-
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ation to Owego, assuming the pas- torate of this church May 1, 1859. He remained here until June 24, 1860, when he resigned his pastorate on ac- count of ill health. Soon afterward he became pastor of the Congrega- tional church at Poughkeepsie, where he preached until 1862, when his health again failing he went abroad in 1863, where he remained four years, pursuing his studies in literature and history, writing for American journals, and lecturing in Great Britain on America. From 1867 to 1873 he was professor of English language and literature in the university of Michi- gan at Ann Arbor. In January, 1873, he became literary editor of the Christian Union in New York city. He was ordained a deacon in the Prostestant Episcopal church in 1881, and priest in 1883. In 1881 he was appointed professor of American his- tory at Cornell university, which posi- tion he held at the time of his death on Dec. 28, 1901. He was the author of many works on history and litera- ture.
But little is known of Rev. William WV. Page. He is supposed to have come from Fairfax Court House, Va., to Deposit, N. Y., and thence to Owe- go in 1860. He remained here only a year.
Rev. Charles Hall Everest, who at- tained considerable prominence, was born at New Lebanon, N. Y., Feb. 14, 1837. He was graduated from Will- iams college in 1859 and from Union theological seminary in 1861. He was ordained Dec. 30, 1861, in Plymouth church, Brooklyn, by his cousin, Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, whom he re- sembled in face and figure. He came
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at once to Owego to assume the pas- torate of the Congregational church, which he held three years. In Jan- uary, 1865, he became pastor of the church of the Puritans in Brooklyn, then recently formed, and preached there twelve years. In February, 1877, he accepted a call to Plymouth church in Chicago. Thus Owego furnished three pastors to Plymouth church in succession-Mr. Matson, Mr. Bartlett, and Mr. Everest. He became pastor on trial of the First Congregational church of Meriden, Conn., in Septen- ber, 1884, at a salary of $8,000. Nine months afterward he had some trouble with the church organist, who re- signed. As seven-tenths of the church supported the organist, Mr. Everest terminated his connection with that church. He was afterward pastor of churches at Norwalk, Conn., and East Orange, N. J., and of the First Con- gregational church at Washington, D. C. He died June 10, 1908, at his home in Brooklyn.
Charles H. A. Bulkley was born at Charleston, S. C., Dec. 22, 1819. He was graduated from New York uni- versity in 1839 and from Union theo- logical seminary in 1842. From 1842 to 1861 he was pastor successively of churches at New Brunswick, N. J .; Janesville, Wis .; Mt. Morris, and Ithaca, N. Y .; West Winsted, Conn., and Paterson, N. J. In 1861 he went as a chaplain in the union army and remained in the service seventeen months. He came to Owego in May, 1867, and preached at the Congrega- tional church until January, 1867.
James C. Beecher, a half-brother of Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, was the youngest child of Dr. Lyman Beecher
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and was born in Boston, Mass., Jan- nary 8, 1828. He was graduated from Dartmouth college in 1848. He was for five years thereafter an officer on a clipper ship plying be- tween New York and China in the tea trade. He afterward studied theology at Andover seminary and was grad- uated therefrom in 1857. Then he went to China as chaplain of the Sea- man's Bethel at Canton. Returning home at the breaking out of the civil war he became chaplain of the famous Brooklyn regiment, principally raised by Plymouth church. At the close of the war he was mustered out with the brevet rank of brigadier-general. He had charge of Park church at El- mire while his brother, Thomas K. Beecher, was absent on a trip to South America. In May, 1867, he be- came pastor of the Owego church, re- maining here four years. He went from here in the spring of 1871 to Poughkeepsie, where he preached five years. In 1876 he purchased a farm containing a mile square of land in the town of Hardenberg, Ulster county, N. Y. High up in the hills and in the woods on the margin of a large lake, he built a house. He bought lumber and with a chest of tools built the house with his own hands, completing it alone. There he lived with his wife and adopted daughter. Sundays he preached to the backwoodsmen. His eccentricities became so marked that his brother, Rev. Thomas K. Beecher, believing that his mind was affected, prevailed upon him to voluntarily en- ter the state Homoeopathic asylum for the insane at Middletown, N. Y. He remained there a year and was after- ward from October, 1881, to August.
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