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 37
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1882, in charge of the Bethel mission in Brooklyn, an adjunct of Plymouth church. He committed suicide at the Elmira water cure August 25, 1886, by shooting himself through the head with a rifle.
Rev. Dwight W. Marsh was born at Dalton, Mass., Nov. 5, 1823. He was graduated from Williams college in 1842, and studied theology at Andover seminary in 1842-3. He taught school in St. Louis, Mo., in 1843-1847. Then he resumed his studies at Union theo- logical seminary, graduating there- from in 1849. In December, 1849, after his ordination, he sailed from Boston to Mosul, Turkey, as a missionary. After his return to this country, in 1860, he preached successively at Hinsdale, Mass., and Godfrey, Ill. From 1862 to 1867 he was in charge of the young ladies' seminary at Roches- ter. In 1867 and 1868 he preached at Monticello, Ill., and in 1869-71 at Whit- ney's Point. He came to Owego in Ang., 1871, and preached here nearly five years. In April, 1876, he went to Amherst, Mass., where he was pastor of the Congregational church until his death on June 19, 1896.
Rev. William C. Schofield came to Owego from Salisbury, N. H., in the spring of 1877. He was pastor of the Congregational church from June of that year until October, 1880, when he resigned, with the understanding that he would consent to supply the pulpit for an indefinite period.
Rev. Miles Gaylord Bullock came from Syracuse to Owego in April, 1881. He was originally a Methodist minis- ter, and an independent thinker. In 1878-9 he preached a series of eight sermons while pastor of the M. E.
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church at Oswego, to which sermons the Northern New York conference took some exceptions. He came to Syracuse and was admitted to Con- gregationalism at Plymouth church. He preached at that church dur- ing the temporary absence of the pastor and while thus engaged received and accepted the call to Owego in April, 1881. He remained here five and one-half years, resigning his pastorate in October, 1886, for the purpose of entering Yale college and in order to continue his studies in theology. Subsequently he lived at Ansonia, Conn. In the summer of 1891, while living at Little Falls, N. Y., he went to Chicago to fill the pulpit of Rev. A. L. Smalley, who was away on nis summer vacation. While thus en- gaged he was stricken with heart dis- ease and died suddenly on July 27. He was about 45 years old at the time of his death.
Rev. D. W. Teller came to Owego from Sherburne, N. Y., December, 1888, and preached here five years. In August, 1893, he received a call to the First Presbyterian church at Fredonia, N. Y. He preached his farewell ser- mon at Owego on Sunday evening, Sept. 3, 1893, and the following Tues- day afternoon he was received into the Binghamton Presbytery as a member. He died at Fredonia March 23, 1894, aged 58 years.
Rev. C. M. Bartholomew came from Niagara Falls in January, 1894, and has ever since been the pastor of this church-a longer period thus far than any of his predecessors in the pas- torate. He was born at Augusta, Oneida Co., N. Y., June 10, 1849; was graduated from Hamilton college in
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1874, and from Auburn theological seminary in 1877. His first pastorate was at Rushville, N. Y., where he preached six years, from 1877 to 1883. From 1883 to 1885 he was pastor of the Congregational church at Reed Corners, N. Y., and from 1885 to 1894, at Niagara Falls. He came to Owego Jan. 1, 1894.
The Congregational society did not own a parsonage until November, 1893, when it purchased of Joel A. Hamilton for $2,700 the house on the south side of Main street, the second house east of Academy street, which house it still owns.
The Methodist Episcopal Church in the Days of the Circuit Preachers and Its History from Its Organiza- tion in 1816, together with Some Ac- count of Its Ministers and Its Meet- ing Houses.
Dr. George Peck's "Early Method- ism," published in 1860, contains the diary of William Colbert, a circuit preacher, who on Nov. 6, 1792, was or- dained an elder at the general con- ference of the bishops, elders, and deacons of the M. E. church at Balti- more, Md., and appointed to fill the station of Wyoming and Tioga, Pa. His work was mostly in Bradford, Luzerne, Northumberland, Columbia, Tioga, and other counties in Pennsyl- vania, and he came into Chemung, Tompkins, and Tioga counties in New York. Tioga county, Pa., was then a dense wilderness. The only reference to Owego in this diary is under date of January 14, when he says he "re- ceived a letter from a man living at "Awaga," in which he was requested to come here and preach. He did not
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preach here, but did come to Nichols the same month. A paragraph in his diary reads as follows:
"Friday, 25. It was with difficulty that I got through the Narrows on ac- count of ice. I preached at one Ben- nett's, near Mahontowango, with free- dom, on I. Cor. vi, 19-20. If any good is done, to God be the glory. These peo- ple are very willing to hear. This locality is now known as Nichols, where live the Shoemakers and Coryells, and has many years been famous for Methodism."
Another reference to Owego is made in Mr. Colbert's diary in November, 1793. He says:
"Saturday, 23. I had a very cold night's lodging last night. I got very little sleep, so that I was obliged to rise early, especially as I had a long ride before me of more than thirty miles without an inhabitant [from the head of Cayuga lake, now Ithaca] to Andrew Alden's at Owaga [Owego] on the northeast branch of the Susque- hanna. I was fortunate in finding two fires on the road this coru morning."
"Sunday, 24. Felt unwell last night, but through mercy was enabled to preach with a degree of life and power at Andrew Alden's."
Andrew Alden lived at Tioga Cen- tre. He and his brother, Prince Alden, and Samuel and William Ransom were the first settlers there. They came from the Wyoming valley about the year 1785. Andrew Alden lived a short distance south of the mouth of Pipe creek in a log house, which is sup- posed to have been the first structure of the kind built in the town of Tioga.
An interesting contribution to Mr. Peck's book, relating to the first ser- vices held at Owego by the Metho- dists, is made by Mrs. Fanny Thurs- ton, wife of David Thurston, who came here from Massachusetts about the
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year 1812 when she was 24 years of age. Mrs. Thurston was a daughter of David Darling, a Congregational minister of Keene, N. H. Mrs. Thurs- ton was a member of the first class formed here. She says:
"The first Methodist preacher that preached in Owego was a Brother Fid- dler, in 1813: he preached once, and an objection being made by an old man, who said, 'We hain't go any Methodists about here, and for my part I don't want any,' he did not re- turn. There was no praying person in Owego at that time. Soon a local preacher. Hiram G. Warner, came in and kept the ferry; he soon joined the conference and travelled away from home. Brother E. Bibbins preached occasionally. About 1815 Brother ). Griffing came. In 1816 there was a re- vival on the south side of the river, six were converted, and the first class formed, consisting of seven members: David and Fanny Thurston, Polly Warner, Abigail Thurston, Maria Thurston, her daughter, (now Mrs. Daniel Shoemaker,) David and Patty Darling. Brother J. Griffin formed the class and established regular preach- ing at the house of D. Thurston, who was appointed leader and steward. Soon Brother Griffing sent a young man by the name of Scovell. Then a man by the name of Cole came a few times; next a Brother Doolittle in the same year. Brothers Griffing, Judd Bibbins, and Agard preached till the church was built. In those days our class was small and persecuted. Our meetings were held in a little school house near the spot now occupied by the Methodist Episcopal church in Owego. The appointment was for Brother Doolittle to preach; when our people came to meeting the house was well lighted up with candles in large silver-plated candlesticks, and shortly a smart dashy Episcopal minister, who had lately come into the place, came in preceded by a martial band, and putting his hat on the bass drum took mis place in the desk. After a while
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Brother Doolittle arose and said that it was publicly known that this was the evening for a Methodist meeting, and we had feelings as well as other people, and he did not understand the present appearances. Mr. Camp came forward in defence of the Methodists. The Episcopal minister read his cre- dentials, and proposed to preach first and have Brother Doolittle preach af- terward: he preached and dismissed the congregation, and left with the band and his friends, after which Brother Doolittle preached and our people had a good meeting and got home about twelve o'clock.
"On another occasion the school- master and others got up an exhibition with the representation of grotesque characters. The Methodists were compelled to remain and witness the performance or quit the ground; they remained and held meeting after the clowns had left.
"The last interruption of our meet- ing was the appointment of a writing school upon the evening of preaching. Brother Warner was to preach; the house was divided into two apart- ments by a swing partition. In the centre of the room usually occupied for preaching sat the writing master surrounded by twelve or fourteen lit- tle lads. Brother Warner asked hin to retire, for it was public meeting night; he said he would not, for it was a public school. He said to Brother Warner: `Go on with your preaching and we will with our writing.' Brother Warner would not, but he and the con- gregation went into the little room. As soon as he began meeting the urchins would snap a rope that ran through both rooms, making a noise like the discharge of a pistol; then they would run and kick against the partition, but Brother Warner kept on praying. Then a troop would scamper out doors and set up a shout, when the master would rap on the window and they would come thundering in again; but some of the mothers of the boys were at meeting and carried home the news; the fathers were in- censed, and some of the boys were
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punished. In the morning Brother Warner went to Judge Burrows to get a warrant for the schoolmaster. The judge went with Brother Warner to see the young man, who confessed that he was urged on by others and promised to do so no more, so he was released. Since that time the Metho- dists have worshipped in peace."
In the "Thurston Genealogies," page 72, Mrs. Thurston's daughter, Mary Almeda (Mrs. Anson Garrison) says of her parents:
"He and my mother were among the seven united to form the first Metho- dist church in Owego. My mother was a superior woman, endowed with a superior mind, and through her early advantages were limited yet amid all her cares she never ceased her efforts for improvement by reading, writing, etc., and her poetry frequently graced the village newspapers."
Hiram G. Warner, mentioned by Mrs. Thurston, conducted a licensed ferry across the river. His ferry house was on the south side of Front street, a little east of Paige street. This was before the first bridge was built across the river in this village. The boat was poled across the river, and it also had oars. A rope was afterward strung over the river, which rope sagged nearly to the water, and the boat was fastened thereto by smaller ropes and pulleys, which pulleys ran on the large rope, and the boat was carried across by the current. David Darling, brother-in-law of David Thurs- ton, tended the ferry in 1523. In 1826 Mr. Warner was a licensed preacher on the Spencer circuit.
Rev. John Griffing came to Berk- shire from Guilford, Conn. His father, Joseph Griffing, was a master mariner. Rev. John Griffing was a preacher on the Candor circuit. He purchased a
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farm on the west bank of the Susque- hanna river, below Owego, where he lived.
Rev. Horace Agard was a man of more than ordinary ability. He was received on trial in the Genesee con- ference in 1819 and preached nineteen years. He was eleven years presiding elder. He was sent on this circuit in 1824. The next year he purchased a few acres of land below Hooper's Val- ley, in the town of Nichols, and settled there with his family. He was com- pelled to abandon active work in 1838, on account of ill health. He died there in 1840. William F. Warner says of Mr. Agard:
"Rev. Horace Agard in his day was almost as widely known as the late Rev. Peter Cartwright. He was not, however, notable for any eccen- tricities, but rather for mis dignified character and solid worth as a man and minister of the church in which he was a leader for many years."
The Methodist congregation held its meetings in the old Main street school house until 1821. March 21 of that year James Pumpelly deeded to the M. E. society thirteen square rods of land at the southeast corner of Main and Academy streets for $100, to be the property of the society so long as it should be occupied for church pur- poses, and to revert to Mr. Pumpelly or his heirs when it should cease to be so occupied.
The framework of the church was erected in the fall of 1821, but it was not enclosed and completed until the next year. It was a large church painted white, and similar to all the country churches built at that time. The front was on Academy street, which street had been known as Mc-
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Master street until this time, when the name of the street was changed to Chapel street, the edifice being com- monly known as the Methodist chapel. In those days all the other churches were known as meeting houses.
The high pulpit was between the two doors at the entrance of the build- ing, and people coming in faced the congregation. In September, 1855, re- pairs were made to the church and changes made. The pulpit was re- moved from between the entrance doors at the west end of the church to the east end, and the choir placed where the pulpit had been. The floor was lowered, so that the high steps outside were removed, and a new portico was added. The pews, which had faced to the west, were turned to face to the east, where the pulpit had been placed. A new spire was raised on the church. It was 116 feet high from the level of the street and was the highest one in Owego. These im- provements cost $3,000.
The church as reconstructed was dedicated Jan. 9, 1856, by Rev. Jesse T. Peck, of New York city. The church was occupied forty-eight years. The congregation had so greatly increased in 1866, that it was decided by the trustees to build a new and larger church on some more central location.
April 16, 1868, the M. E. society pur- chased of Dr. Theodore S. Armstrong the lot on the north side of Main street, east of Spencer avenue, for $3,750, but did not build thereon until two years afterward. The present brick church, as shown in the engrav- ing, was built on a contract for $35,000 by Jonathan S. Houk and Al- bert Harrison Keeler, of Owego. The
THE FIRST METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
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work on the foundation was begun in April, 1870, and the basement story walls were completed in June. The corner stone was laid by Rev. H. Wheeler in the afternoon of June 22, and the address was delivered by Rev. Dr. Love, of Auburn, editor of the Northern Christian Advocate.
The arches over the doorways were the first stone ones ever built in Owe- go. In December the building had been enclosed for the winter and the slate roof finished. The next spring the steeple was erected. It is 155 feet high and 30 feet higher than the steeple of any other church in the vil- lage.
The new church was dedicated Wed- nesday morning, Dec. 20, 1871. Rev. Dr. Jesse T. Peck, of Syracuse. preached the sermon. In the evening Rev. B. I. Ives, of Auburn, preached. At the two services $25,000,the balance required for building the new church, was pledged by the congrega- tion.
The old church building was sold to Charles A. Ward for $500. It after- ward passed through the ownership of various persons and finally became the property of James Hill, who tore it down and used the material in the con- struction of other buildings.
In the fall of 1875 A. H. Keeler made a contract with the trustees to build an extension to the back part of the new church, to be four feet deep, seventeen feet long, and forty feet high, to give more room for the pulpit and organ. In the winter of 1885-6 the ceiling was lowered several feet and a new steel ceiling was put in.
The first parsonage of the M. E. church was in McMaster street. It
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still stands on the west side of that street, and is the first house south of the Champion wagon works. Aug. 15, 1840, James Pumpelly sold the lot to the society for $200 and built the par- sonage thereon. June 5, 1871, the property was sold for $3,000 to Mrs. Hannah A. Kingsley. On April 1, 1893, the society purchased of Mrs. Catherine B. Deming for $3,000 its present parsonage on the south side of Main street. It is the second house west of Paige street and was built in 1849 by Timothy P. Patch. It was af- terward owned and occupied several years by James Bishop.
The pastors of the church since its organization have been as follows:
Rev. William Brown, 1816.
Rev. Ebenezer Doolittle, 1817.
Rev. Hiram G. Warner, 1818.
Rev. Horace Agard, 1822.
Rev. John D. Gilbert, 1823.
Rev. Chester V. Adgate, 1824.
Rev. Josiah Keyes, 1825-6.
Rev. Joseph Castle, 1827.
Rev. David A. Shepard, 1828-9.
Rev. John Griffing, 1830.
Rev. Sylvester Minier, 1831.
Rev. Morgan Sherman, 1832.
Rev. Marmaduke Pearce, 1833.
Rev. L. Mumford, 1834-5.
Rev. D. Holmes, Jr., 1836-7.
Revs. L. Hitchcock and John Grif- fing, 1838.
Revs. Robert Fox and John Griffing, 1839.
Rev. Robert Fox, 1840.
Rev. A. J. Crandall, 1841-2.
Rev. Freeman H. Stanton, 1843-44.
Rev. William Reddy, 1845.
Rev. William H. Pearne, 1846-7.
Rev. A. J. Dana, 1848-9.
Rev. Thomas H. Pearne, 1850.
Rev. J. M. Snyder, 1851.
Rev. George P. Porter, 1852-3.
Rev. George H. Blakeslee, 1854-5.
Rev. B. W. Gorham, 1856-7.
Rev. John J. Pearce, 1858.
Rev. George M. Peck, 1859.
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Rev. S. W. Weiss, 1860.
Rev. George P. Porter, 1861-2.
Rev. David A. Shepard, 1863.
Rev. E. R. Keyes, 1864.
Rev. William B. Westlake, 1865-7.
Rev. Henry E. Wheeler, 1868-70.
Rev. William Bixby, 1871-2.
Rev. James O. Woodruff, 1873-5.
Rev. Almus D. Alexander, 1876-S.
Rev. E. W. Caswell, 1879-81.
Rev. G. W. Miller, 1SS2-3.
Rev. George Forsyth, 1884-6.
Rev. William M. Hiller, 1887-S.
Rev. Phineas R. Hawxhurst, 1SS9-91.
Rev. Justus F. Warner, 1892-4.
Rev. Moses D. Fuller, 1895-9.
Rev. William Edgar, 1900-1.
Rev. Haskell B. Benedict, 1901-3.
Rev. Amasa F. Chaffee, 1904-5.
Rev. John B. Cook, 1905-7.
Rev. Benjamin Copeland, 1907.
Rev. Louis D. Palmer, 1907-
Of these pastors thirteen have been presiding elders, as follows: Horace Agard, D. A. Shepard, Wm. Reddy, W. H. Pearne, A. J. Dana, J. M. Sny- der, Geo. P. Porter, H. E. Wheeler, William Bixby, J. O. Woodruff, Geo. Forsyth, J. F. Warner, and M. D. Fuller.
Two of the ablest of these clergy- men, and the most erratic, were Will- iam H. Pearne and George P. Porter. Mr. Pearne was in the ministry about fifty years. He was presiding elder of Owego district from 1852 to 1855. At one time he was pastor of the leading church in New Orleans, La. After the civil war he was provost marshal at Nashville, Tenn., and later pastor of the State street church and after- ward of the Clinton avenue church in Trenton, N. J., the most important church in the New Jersey conference. He died at Homer, N . Y., Nov. 17, 1890, aged 74 years.
Geo. P. Porter was born at Berwick, Pa., in 1720. In early life he was a civil
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engineer, and later a portrait painter. He was a pupil of John Sartain, of Philadelphia, who was famous as a mezzotint engraver. In 1843 he opened a studio at Towanda, Pa. He soon abandoned his work as a painter and entered the ministry. In 1848, he was assigned to the charge at Montrose and Great Bend, Pa. In 1851 he was pastor of the Court street church at Binghamton and the next two years he preached at Owego. He was sent to Waverly in 1854. He became in- temperate and the next year he lapsed into infidelity and withdrew from the membership of the church. For a short time he was editor of the Wa- verly Advocate. In 1861 he again en- tered the ministry, and that year and in 1862 he was again pastor of the Owego church. From 1863 to 1866 he was presiding elder of the Owego dis- trict and in 1867 of the Wyoming dis- trict. In 1868 and 1869 he was pastor of Grace church at Buffalo and in 1870 he became presiding elder of the Genesee district. In 1872 he preached at tne Elm Park church at Scranton, Pa., and the next year he was placed on the superannuated list. He died at Cowlesville, Wyoming Co., N. Y., June 11, 1877.
A History of the First Baptist Church, Its Meeting Houses and Its Pastors, with Some Account of the Old Town Clock, the Only Town Clock ever Seen in This Village.
The "First Baptist Church of Owe- go," the second church organized in this village, was organized Septem- ber 20, 1831, by thirteen men and seventeen women, among whom were James Clark, Abner Brooks, Asa
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Woolverton, Latham A. Burrows, Na- thaniel Spencer, Asa Dearborn, Asa H. Truman, Ebenezer Daniels, and Asa Root. The church was organized in Daniel Chamberlain's dwelling house, which stood on the west side of Park street.
Mr. Chamberlain was a wagon maker. His shop stood where the Congregational church now stands. His house was south of it. The house was later owned by Miss E. H. Bates, M. D., and was burned Dec. 3, 1877, in the fire which broke out in and burned the first Congregational church edifice.
The organization was effected by delegates from the Baptist churches at Berkshire, Spencer, and Caroline. At this meeting a committee was ap- pointed to obtain a place for worship and to find a site for a meeting house. The committee subsequently reported that it had hired Mr. Chamberlain's wagon shop for six months for $15 and that it had looked for a site for a meeting house, but had been unable to find one.
William P. Stone, a member of the society, in a newspaper article written in 1882, said that none of the consti- tuent members of the new church lived nearer than two miles, and most of them not less than five miles dis- tant. They were poor and without in- fluence, with a total valuation of less than $5,000; some working lands on shares, others laboring to hew a home out of the wilderness.
The preacher's desk in the wagon shop was a box placed on a work bench, and the congregation was seated on benches made of pine slabs, the flat side up, supported by wooden
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legs inserted into two-inch auger holes.
Services were held in this shop a few weeks when the weather be- came cold and there was no way to heat the shop. In November, 1831, application was made to the board of supervisors of Tioga county for per- mission to occupy the court room at the court house as a place of worship, which was granted, with the provision that the church should furnish its own fuel for heating the room and also give a bond in the sum of $5,000 that the building should be properly cared for during their occupancy of it. When the members of the congrega- tion gathered at the court house on the next Sunday, however, they found the door locked and the under-sheriff, who had charge of the building, was not to be found. He was a member of another church, and it was charged that he had gone away purposely, so that the court house could not be oc- cupied for religious services.
Not disheartened by this rebuff, the society made an arrangement with Friendship lodge of Free Masons to occupy its lodge room, which was on the third floor of James and Wm. A. Ely's brick building on the south side of Front street, which stood where F. M. Baker & Son's hardware store now stands. It was in this lodge room that the fire which destroyed the entire business section of the village broke out in September, 1849.
The first pastor of the church was Rev. Samuel W. Ford, who was en- gaged on April 14, 1832, to preach for a term of one year, his compensation to be $300.
The first settled pastor of the
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church was James R. Burdick, a grad- uate of Brown university, who ass- umed charge June 12, 1833. His salary was only $300 a year, one-half of which was paid by the society and the other half by the Baptist state con- vention. In addition to this his house rent and firewood were furnished by the society.
The society increased in numbers and steps were soon taken to build a meeting house. At a church meeting on Feb. 8, 1834, the deacons were au- thorized to raise money by subscrip- tion and build a church as soon as pos- sible. The money was raised and the church was built that year at the southeast corner of Main and Church streets on land which Charles Pum- pelly sold to the society for $275. The lot had a frontage of 53 feet on Main street and 60 feet on Church street. The lot was afterward enlarged by the purchased of additional ground.
The new meeting house stood close to Main street. It was +0 by 60 feet in size and occupied nearly all the lot. The pulpit was at the south end. A gallery, supported by large wooden posts, extended around the west, north and east sides, and the choir was stationed in the north end of the gal- lery.
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