USA > New York > Wayne County > Rose > Rose neightborhood sketches, Wayne County, New York; with glimpses of the adjacent towns: Butler, Wolcott, Huron, Sodus, Lyons and Savannah > Part 41
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when asked his age, he ran his fingers through his hair, thus giving it a stand-up condition, and replied : "Now guess." He it was who told of his experience in the food line, when making his rounds. His appetite was equal to anything that was set before him, save in one instance, when he saw the good wife prepare the johnny-cake and set it to bake in the out-of-doors fire. That was well enough, but when he beheld the interest and proximity of a number of goslings, whose investigations considerably affected the cake, he concluded to forego eating for one day, though the woman and her family seemed in no way disturbed by the admixture. William McKoon was four times a laborer on the Victory and Rose circuits. Of him, Brother Collins says: "He did as much good as any man the circuit ever had. No man in these parts could equal him as a preacher of funeral sermons." He spoke the final words over the first Thaddeus Collins and Esther, his wife. Samuel Bebins, in 1831, was the last rider of the Victory circuit, leaving it with a membership of 1,200 people. He is remembered as wearing a red bandanna on his bald head, and as being a man of a lively nature. It was a six weeks' circuit, or one requiring that time to make the complete round ; so one day, in leaving his Butler charge,' he said: "Brethren, I don't like this six weeks' business. The devil gets around before I do." Perhaps he was active in securing the change, for in 1832 there was a subdivision, and Rose circuit appeared with a membership of 531. The first ministers over the new circuit were Elijah Barnes and John Thomas. The latter was an Englishman, and in a country where the latch string was always out, his conventional ways seemed very strange. Says one : "Why, he would knock at a door all day, or till some one opened it for him, never heeding the old-fashioned 'come in,' and I don't know as he would ever get off his horse unless bidden to do so."
In 1832 our people were still worshiping in school-houses, though the Valley log building had given place to a framed structure. With the new circuit, a movement was made for the building of an edifice, and hereafter are copied verbatim the first written records of our Rose organization :
"At a meeting of the inhabitants of the town of Rose, held in the school- house in Rose Valley on Monday, the 27th day of August, 1832,. pursuant to publick notice, for the purpose of adopting measures for building a chapel for the use of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Rose.
"1st. RESOLVED, That Elijah Barnes be chosen Chairman, and Eron. N. Thomas act as Secretary.
"2d. RESOLVED, That the name of this Society be ' The First Methodist Episcopal Society ' in the town of Rose.
"3d. RESOLVED, That there be nine trustees, and Jacob Miller, Abel Lyon, Chester Ellinwood, Samuel E. Ellinwood, Geo. W. Mirick, Robert Andrews, Thaddeus Collins, Isaac Lamb and Moses F. Collins be said trustees.
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"4th. RESOLVED, That Eron N. Thomas be the clerk of said Society."
Here we have something definite, and, as corner-stones of our structure, we find certain representative names. Of the man whose name appears as clerk, I may state that he retained the office' till his death in 1874. "Sister" Polly Thomas was well represented during these more than forty years by her capable, determined son.
September 8th, 1832, at an adjourned meeting, Brothers Miller, Chester and Ellis Ellinwood, Mirick and Andrews were appointed a committee to agree on a site for a church and to circulate a subscription. The 19th of October, it was resolved that the site of said house be on the hill, north of Mr. Bassett's shop. It was further resolved that Thaddeus Collins, Joel N. Lee and Chester Ellinwood be a committee to build said house, and further, that it be 32 x 45 feet. The form of organization already given was certified to before Judge Arne, and September 13, 1833, was recorded in the clerk's office in Lyons.
In 1836, February 26th, there was a reorganization of the church, and the number of the trustees was reduced to three, who were Ellis Ellinwood, Joel N. Lee and Geo. W. Mirick. We may conclude that proper measures were at once taken to build the church, whose site, given by Thaddeus and Chauncey Collins, was where the house of Mrs. Augusta Allen now stands, at the corner of the street leading to Wayne Centre. Owing to the abundance of cobble stones in the vicinity, I suppose it was thought the builders could use them cheaply and, at the same time, have a sub- stantial edifice. John Hannahs was the carpenter, and, as usual, "Sister" Thomas was a mighty power in the progress of affairs. Once, when the builder had fallen short of material and had gathered up his tools and departed, he was surprised at hearing a great clatter in his rear, and, turning, saw a woman standing up in her wagon and shouting to him to stop. It was Mrs. Thomas, who, fearful that if the carpenter went away it would not be easy to get him back, had followed to tell him that she had sent her men into the woods for timber, and that he might return and go to work. The masonry was done by John Layton. The most liberal contributor to the "chapel" was Polly Clark-our "Sister " Thomas- who gave $100; Thaddeus Collins gave $65, and other sums were given, ranging down to those of one figure only. Of the fifty-five givers recorded, only three are yet on this side of the grave, viz., Brother Stephen Collins, a brother of Thaddeus ; Chauncey B., the youngest of the family,' now living in Clyde, and Ira Mirick, of Lyons. In this way, $743.15 was subscribed, but, as the building cost over $1,200, there was quite a debt to begin with, in this way being too much in keeping with custom, the country over. The building was roofed in and seated temporarily before it was dedicated. In fact, my great-aunt, Mrs. Mary Wade, tells me that she attended revival meetings in the church just after the first coru hoein-
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in 1835, and that the seats were boards laid upon the end of logs of wood sawed off at the proper length. There is extant a contract between Geo. W. Wainwright and the trustees to complete, i. e., finish the church, bearing date of December 1st, 1835, and the work was to be completed on or before the 1st day of May following. July 13th, 1836, he acknowledges receipt of payment in full, viz., $375, on which day the pews, forty-eight in number, were advertised to be sold. Ensign Ellinwood, with his sisters, Charlotte and Lemira, were singers at the dedication. One of the selections sung was, "How Lovely are Thy Dwellings." This church long maintained the exceedingly quaint custom of separating families, the males sitting on one side and the feminine portion demurely occupying the other part of the room. When completed the "chapel " was a com- fortable one, the second church edifice in town ; the Presbyterians being a short time ahead. The pulpit was an old-fashioned, high-perched, box- like affair, between the two main entrance doors on the east end. There were galleries on the other three sides.
This building was for nearly twenty-five years the temple whither resorted the Methodist tribes at least one day in the week. Built, however, of cobble stones, and not, perhaps, supported as dwelling-houses are, it was deemed insecure, and people grew afraid of it. There was one unsuccessful attempt to burn it, but in 1859 it was again fired, this time to its destruction, and the edifice which had occasioned so many prayers, so much anxiety and work, was only a smouldering heap of stones. In those days the parsonage was just a little west of the church ; now some- what changed, it is the home of the Presbyterian ministers. Between it and the church was a row of horse sheds. It is a fitting commentary on the fears of some as to the security of the walls, that when the fire was over and the woodwork burned, it took the united work of many to pull and push down the pile of stones so long deemed dangerous. Truly, the temple was well built, a strong tower to those who feared Him.
The true story of this quarter of a century it would take too much time to tell. There were the regular warfare against sin, the revivals where many were gathered into the fold, the marriages and the deaths, when the aged and the young were borne hence to their final resting places. The ministers who followed each other in these years were Burroughs Holmes, who became a prominent figure in his conference; Joseph Cross, who, Brother Stephen Collins says, was the first minister he ever knew to wear whiskers, and they were kept well back under the chin and on the throat. Another has described him as a regular jumping-jack in the pulpit. His career was an eventful one-going south, and to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, he became the chaplain of the famous Black Horse Cavalry, and after the War returned to become a minister in the Episcopal Church. He was of English birth, which may account for his ready donning of
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Confederate gray. In his Rose days, he was quite young, and before the War was done went to Clyde. Humility was then one of his strong points. How strange it seems to us that one's garb, or way of wearing hair or whiskers, should be thought worthy of special attention. When my father first ventured to let his beard grow, his father said : " Wear a very modest beard, my son, a very modest one." On his own face no one ever saw more than the stubble of a week's growth. Anson Tuller was a conspicuous figure, and, with his colleague, in 1837 and 1838, conducted one of the most extensive revivals in the history of the church. Tuller lived a long life of usefulness ; Kilpatrick, who was a man of great eloquence and effectiveness, located in 1846, and went west. From our Rose Church Moses Lyon went out to his mission, terminating last spring. He was a son of Abel Lyon, one of the first trustees. He was noted throughout this section as a sweet singer in Israel. John W. Armstrong came down from Red Creek, and by our quarterly conference was recommended to the traveling connection. Anson Tuller was the presiding elder, and after the young man, who was a teacher in the Red Creek Academy, had withdrawn, he said : " That man has a long head, and it appears to be well filled," a statement well borne out in subsequent years. Austin M. Roe was sent hence, owing much, perhaps, to the promptings of William Peck, a brother of the subsequent bishop. He, doubtless, is well remembered to this day for his tobacco pipe and his horse, Selim.
The membership was a substantial one, and a glance at the names of those who helped build the first church shows many of the best persons in the town. Time would not suffice to sound the praises of all these excellent people. That first Daniel Roe, who lived to be nearly ninety years of age, I can remember as he rode about on his cream-colored horse, keeping to his saddle almost as long as he lived. In his garb and appearance he made a picture in my memory not unlike that of John Wesley. His youngest brother, Austin, my grandfather, came to Rose in time to help build the stone church. A Long Islander, he was a convert at those meetings conducted early in the century by Ezekiel Cooper and William Phobus. Thaddeus Collins, I have heard my father say, used to yoke up his oxen and take the whole neighborhood to Stewart's corners to attend the meetings in the winter of 1833-4. There could be nothing good in progress in which he did not have a part. But in those days our meetings were not conducted without opposition. To many the fervor and zeal of the Methodists were a stumbling block. My great-grandmother said to my mother : "No, Polly ! you can't go to those meetings. They'll scare you to death." However, she seemed to have survived more than forty years of living as the wife of a Methodist minister, tolerably unscared.
Again, as to ministers, were Jairus McKoon living, I wonder if he would be amused as he was, years ago, when Joseph Byron told of the " he-she
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bears." Sitting on the writing falls of the school-house, which was long- the home of Joseph Tipple, he almost lost his centre of gravity over the sad lapsus of the minister. William Mason located to become the steward of Red Creek Seminary, a position which he long honored. He used to tell this story of himself, laughing as heartily as any one at the joke. In settling accounts once on leaving a charge, a sixpence too much had been paid him. "Well," said he, " I'll come along and preach you a sermon for that some day." "Oh, no," said the careful steward, " we've had enough of six-penny sermons." Nearly all, however, preachers and people,. have passed over. As we recall those times, we cannot help wishing that. once more on this side the River, we might see the Lees, Thomases, Hoff- mans, Barretts, Griswolds, Wyckoffs, Mitchells, Winchells, Toleses, Vandercooks, Kelloggs, Lymans, Collinses, Miricks, Ellinwoods, Allens, Holbrooks, Roes, Lyons, Hunns (there were no Vandals) and all those- who did valiant battle during all these primordial years. It cannot be ; but though they cannot come to us, we may go to them.
From the burning of the old " chapel " to the present, may properly be. termed a new era in the history of our society. Successive divisions and cuttings off had made the numbers of the organization vary considerably. Then, too, the spirit of migration had its weight in the membership, but through all this the church and the neighborhood kept up their proverbial reputation for regular attendance at meeting. Said William Haney, who came to us in the sixties from Boonville, N. Y. : " Why, this disposition to go to church astonishes me. When I get up on a hill-top and look forward or back on a Sunday morn, the road has the appearance of a long procession. I verily believe that everybody, religious and irreligious, goes to meeting." The spirit imparted by our long line of church-going New England ancestry will not die in a generation, and our hope is that the succeeding generations will keep up the practice and spirit.
However, the old house, with its memories of revivals, the preaching and singing for nearly twenty-five years, was a thing of the past. What should be done next ? Measures were taken at once to rebuild-but where ? Shall it be on the old site, or will a new one be selected ? Many said the hill was too cold and breezy, and that there was not room in its. vicinity for horse sheds, while the newly opened street leading eastward from Eron Thomas' house, would be just the place. Really, the new street. was opened for the church. Arguments, pro and con, were had, but finally the new streeters prevailed, and the present structure was the result.
No sooner were the Methodists without a home than the Presbyterians. kindly opened their doors, and, till the basement was finished, more than a year later, these people worshiped together, apparently to the edification and profit of all. In fact, Deacon Flint said he didn't care to hear any
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better preaching than that given them by Mr. Salisbury. The debates and conferences of the fall of 1859 and following winter resulted in the breaking of ground in the following spring-perhaps in May-and the framing was started in July. Rev. Mr. Brown, of the Clyde Methodist Episcopal Church, was noted for his church building proclivities, and he submitted a plan to our brethren, which was, in the main, adopted ; but Brother Peter Harmon, the builder, was not entirely satisfied. So, broaching the matter to the trustees, they unanimously approved his suggestions-changes which make this edifice practically a home affair, in that the architect and builder was a member of the church.
In December of 1860, the basement was completed and Brother Salisbury came from Wolcott to preach the first sermon in it. The room above the audience room was inclosed and floored and afforded a good place for banquets during the stirring war period, a time when the basement or lecture-room frequently resounded with patriotic appeals. So time passed along. The original cost estimated at $4,000 had swollen to near $7,000. Brothers Wells and Skeel had had their pastorate in the basement, but the coming of Brother Charles Baldwin started the era of finishing, and the work was pushed along to completion. The bell was in place, and on March 3d, 1864, the long houseless congregation assembled to dedicate their edifice. Peter Harmon, the builder, at the suggestion of Elder Dunning, then in charge of the Oswego district, got together an excellent choir, in which was prominent Chester Ellinwood, whose elder brother, Ensign, had led the singing when the old house was set apart. Seated here by the pulpit was " Father" Austin Roe, in a little more than a month to be gathered to his rest, the oldest man in the membership of the church. The sermon was preached by Dr. J. M. Reid, then president of Genesee College, while in the evening Rev. Samuel Clark, of Weedsport, officiated. Rev. B. I. Ives, the noted debt raiser, was also here, and his honeyed utterances succeeded in extracting something more than $2,000 from the audience to raise the debt.
The old church was burned Monday night, April 18th, 1859, during the pastorate of Geo. H. Salisbury, and the new one, building through several years, was dedicated March 3d, 1864, while Charles Baldwin was minister. The very day of the burning of the Rose Church, the corner-stone of the new one in Clyde was laid, a coincidence worth noting. From that date to the present there have been very few changes. It and the parsonage adjacent have been convenient, comfortable places for service and the pastor's abode. To the majority of the membership to-day, it is the only building recalled. In this room, could a phonographic record have been made and to-day we were to set the cylinder back, there would come to us the tones of Dr. Reid in the opening address, and then would be heard the mild words of the pastor, Charles Baldwin, who, when he felt life sinking
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apace, made his home among us, and finally, went from our church militant to that triumphant, his body lying with many of his church associates in the cemetery near. No one would mistake the voice of S. B. Crosier, who was prominent in many things in our village. Of him it is told that W. H. (better known as " Bill ") Saunders, showing to him the appointments of his newly fitted up hotel, he pronounced everything excellent if he would only keep the "critter " out, referring to that bane of civilization, alcohol. As the vibrations continue, there would come the beginning of a talk to the Sunday school children ; but the inexorable five minutes' rule cut the speaker off completely and he concludes with " I wish I hadn't begun." But there were pleasanter affairs to bring back our genial old friend, Royal Houghton, who gave two sons, Ross and Oscar, to the min- istry. He was Houghton to the end, though his sons are now called Howton.
Many ears will listen more intently when the next preacher's tones are heard, and we rejoice that they may be heard to-day. He was the first minister to stay the possible three years, from 1868 to 1871, Rev. Phineas Wiles. Revs. Curtis, Edson and Day all arouse trains of familiar memories. Could our recording phonograph tell all the good things about those whose tones have been preserved here and elsewhere, it would render back to us the somewhat hesitating reading of an Old Testament chapter, wherein hard, double-jointed names abounded. Noticing the obvious amusement of his congregation at some of his efforts, the reader coolly remarks: " If any of you think you can do better than I am doing with these names, why, just come up here and you may have a chance to try." But the active Christian industry of D. D. Davis needs no story to recall it. By the way, the fact that the prominent initials precede his name does not prevent the important truth that he is the only D. D. ever stationed in Rose. Revs. Hoxie and Beach recall long and successful pastorates, and of the latter, I will state that he kept the church record better than any I have ever seen. Were he to give lessons in this respect to his brother preachers, he would confer a priceless boon upon the future mousing chronicler. Brother C. E. Herman's interim of a single year brings us to a voice that, improving the possibility to remain beyond the old three years' bounds, is now, in its fourth year, able to speak for itself. All will know that I refer to him who has so long and so faithfully served this people, and whose zeal, in and out of season, has brought about so much that to-day gladdens our sight. Under the pastorate of Brother G. A. Reynolds, our church has taken a new lease of life. While the member- ship of the parent church remains much as usual-subject to the fluctua- tions of removals and lukewarmness-a growing daughter is found in the North Rose organization, where thirty-five probationers form au excellent foundation. May the enterprise increase and prosper.
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While mention has been made of the later pastors, we would not forget those who earlier toiled here. There was Harlow Skeel, who was preacher in a trying period and who is still a standard bearer in the Northern New York Conference, and I doubt not that many here remember his family as well as himself. Frank and Clarence both were graduated from Wesleyan in 1874. The former is now a physician in New York. The latter found an early grave while following in his father's footsteps. It was during Brother Skeel's stay that the Rev. George Bowles, a local deacon, was expelled. He was an Englishman of massive frame and persuasive eloquence, as all who recall him will testify. In early life he must have been "an awkward hand in a row." He had been much abused and pro- voked by a neighbor, nameless here. So long as the latter's taunts were confined to Brother B. personally, he did nothing, but when the man assailed the character of the preacher's family, he said : "You may talk about me, but my children never," and pitching in he gave the sinner one of the best thrashings ever administered by a representative of the church militant to one of Satan's crew. It was, of course, very unchristian, but carnal man cannot repress a feeling of pleasure that the militant Methodist was also triumphant. In the eyes of the community, he was very much of a hero, having given what all considered a fully merited punishment. But the church must free itself from such odium, and so expelled, but on profession, readmitted, and in a few years reinstated. The example is not the best possible, but sometimes fire must be fought with fire. The presiding elder was Chas. A. Dunning, and I have wondered whether he may not have had a fellow feeling for Mr. Bowles, since of him the story is told that, in his earlier lile, he knocked down an impious jackanapes, who, in reply to the query as to whether he would not like religion, had answered : "Yes, I guess I'll take about three cents' worth." Contrition and repentance had accomplished for him the same end gained by our erring brother of Rose. M. D. L. B. Wells. Does anyone wonder that the bishop once referred to him as Alphabet Wells ? Geo. H. Salisbury. What a career of usefulness was cut short when death claimed him ! Having much of his father, Nathaniel's, ability he had vastly more tact and suavity, yet can anyone believe that, twenty-five years ago, there were those in the Rose Church whose righteous souls were vexed because he had patent leather tips on his shoes ? William Morse, O. C. Lathrop, so recently gone home ; Harris Kingsley, Cyrus Phillips, William Jones- all these names will have a familiar sound to some.
But the past is past. From the insignificant beginning in numbers of six Methodists, sixty-five years ago, to the present, there has been a practical confirmation of the promise that where two or three are gathered together in His name, He will be in the midst of them, and that to bless. Through divisions or changes, through dissension within, through consid-
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erable secessions, through removal and death, through our discriminating Baptist and Presbyterian brothers seeking here fair partners for life's journey,-through all these hazards the church has survived, and there. have been found those who have kept the altar bright, the fires burning. If there be Pharisees, so also there are strong, faithful souls, who know no such word as fail, whose hand once placed to the plough continues firm to the end. Here, then, are the stages : A class in 1824, but no abiding city till 1836. Then a comfortable home till destroyed by fire in 1859. Again shelterless till March, 1864. Then twenty-five years in this structure, to-day renewed, beautified, it becomes more fitly than ever the place of worship, the abode of the Most High. May God in His- wisdom sanctify and keep it.
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