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 43
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To the older members of the church, each one of these thirty-three names will arouse many memories, not always pleasant, but, in the main, bearing out the usual proportions of the bitter and the sweet in this life of ours. The most of these preachers had families, and their wives and children bore their part in the annual routine of church and town existence. Comparisons would be invidious, but if one man was not liked by some, he was so much more popular with another faction that a good average was maintained. One man was conspicuous for his success in revival services, while another could preach the best doctrinal discourses. Another was noted for the zeal of his pastoral labors. Thus while no one man had in perfection all the ministerial graces, a glance over the whole array finds much to admire. While only one minister was called back to a second pastorate, it is highly to the credit of the church that very many of the former pastors have been willing to take up the lines again. Many will recall the bright faces of ministers' children who here grew to maturity. The Wilkins boys, two of them, had here their early boyhood. Wallace St. John became one of the most noted schoolmasters in the town. Clark Ferguson became himself a clergyman, and his sisters contributed no little to the life of the church. Elder Maynard's only daughter, Frances, married Gilbert White, and for some years lived in town, and the widow of Elder Wilkins is still a highly esteemed resident of the village.
For many years the ministers have lived in the Valley, but in the earlier days they resided out of the village, and not infrequently tilled several acres of land, thus conferring a deal of pleasure upon some parishioners, who thought sermons constructed at the "tail of the plow" much more efficacious than those which " smelled of the lamp." Elder Fairchild and his family occupied a log house, afterwards owned and used by Egbert Soper, standing on the side of the hill, just east of the present residence of Charles Osborn, in the east part of the town; and Mr. O.'s home was the habitation of Elders Graham and Ferguson. Elder Bucklin's home was the old Joel Bishop place. Elders Curtiss and Wilkins, in the latter's first pastorate, lived a little north of opposite to the abode of Hamel Closs. The first minister, David Smith, dwelt in a log house erected for him on the site of Henry Decker's home. Elder St. John resided on the road east of the white school-house in Galen ; Elder Halliday in the bee hive ; Elder Dudley, while he did not keep a hotel, did live for a time in the south tavern. One shot from Elder Gunn did memorable execution, for he raised the money to pay for the parsonage where subsequent pastors have been domiciled.
Though organized in 1820, it was not till 1836 that a building was erected for divine worship. Before this, the people had used the school- houses at the Valley, and at Lamb's corners, along with private houses, particularly the home of Joel Bishop. Evidently they counted well the
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cost before beginning. Very little data can be found as to the building of the edifice, but it appears that the architect and builder was Ansel Gardner, a son-in-law of Chauncey Bishop. Items concerning the building period are scarce, but November 11, 1834, the trustees appointed Chauncey Bishop, Ira Mirick and Peter Valentine a building committee. As the annual business meeting of 1836 was held in March, in the school-house, and that of 1837 was held in the same month in the meeting house, it must be inferred that the edifice was completed in the interval. I have not been able to find any data as to cost. The site was bought of the late Hiram Mirick. Whatever changes have been wrought in subsequent years in covering and in refitting the interior, the old frame-work has not been altered. Nothing but fire or tornado could harm these timbers, so securely and honestly laid. The edifice made very little pretension to architectural beauty, but it answered well the purposes for which it was constructed. Within, the way of life was made plain. Without, between services, the vexed questions of the day were discussed with as much zest and fervor as the time and place would permit. Few problems of politics, political economy, agriculture and other science escaped weekly solutions at the hands of these sapient farmers. No chief justice, wig-covered and wool- sack seated, ever gave expression to more oracular utterances than every Sunday fell from the lips of those who leaned up against the south side of the building and talked. Had plans, developed here, been followed, who knows but that the Rebellion might have been suppressed years before Grant wore it out ?
In 1861 there was a reformation of the interior, changing the pulpit to the north side, so that the preacher might face, not only his people seated, but all late comers, and blinds were placed upon the windows. Of the latter improvement, I have not the least doubt, for I drove every screw, while Deacon George Seelye and John Gillett held the foot of the ladder and discussed the War. At this time, also, a bell was placed in the church steeple.
In 1885-6 a very thorough renovation of the structure, within and with- out, was effected. The outlay of $4,400 was well expended, and the result . has so metamorphosed the original structure that the early worshipers would pass it without recognition. The galleries disappeared, singers' seats were placed at the pulpit's right, a baptistry was constructed beneath the pulpit, and new entrances were devised, considerably adding to the capacity of the church. The basement has kitchen and dining-room, so essential to modern churches. The roof is covered with tin, but the old church sheds remain as in days of old. Good Baptist horses instinctively turn towards them whenever driven through the Valley.
During these seventy-two years of existence, the Rose Church has elected to the office of deacon many men who have merited and enjoyed the highest
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respect of their fellow citizens. The first appointed were William Briggs- and George Seelye, who were ordained to their office July 16th, 1835. Again, in 1843, September 19th, John I. Smith and James H. Ferris were ordained deacons. Elder John Mitchell, of Clyde, preached, and was also chairman. The pastor, Elder A. S. Curtis, prayed, and with Elder Mitchell and Deacon George Seelye, laid on hands. Deacon Seelye, also, gave the hand of fellowship. These were the only cases of ordination, but other deacons were appointed, as Benjamin Genung, William Guthrie, Luther Wilson and Jefferson Chaddock.
The church has always been well supplied with musicians. The Holmeses, Genungs, Ellinwoods, Osgoods and others well maintained this part of worship. When, in 1835, Mrs. Deacon George Seelye appeared, she was the first of a long line of singers, for the Sheffields have contributed no little to the church music. Her son, Judson, at one time led, and after him Joel S. Sheffield came, and he held the leadership till 1892. Eudora M. Seelye played the melodeon, both before and after her marriage to Lucien H. Osgood. Her sister, Estelle (Mrs. M. G. McKoon), followed her, with Mrs. Frances (Maynard) White, till Lucy (Sheffield) Wade took the place. Joel S. Sheffield's daughter, Hattie, is the present. instrumentalist. William B. Kellogg and Felton Hickok were long singers in the choir.
The incorporation of the church took place March 17, 1834, with David Holmes, Ira Mirick, Chauncey Bishop, Joseph Seelye and Peter Valentine as first trustees. This was entered in the county clerk's office, April 15. The annual meeting comes the third Thursday in February.
THE ROSE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
The old yet well preserved first volume of the records of this church has upon its first page the following interesting entry: "Records of the Third Presbyterian Church in Wolcott, February 17th, 1825. The Rev- erend Francis Pomeroy and the Reverend Benjamin Stockton, members of the Presbytery of Geneva, met at the school-house near Mr. John Closs' in Wolcott for the purpose of setting off certain members of the first Presbyterian Church in Wolcott, and organizing them into a church by themselves. Opened by prayer. The following members were set off and formed into a church, viz .: Males, John Wade, Aaron Shepherd, Simeon Van Auken, Rufus Wells, Moses Hickok. Females, Eunace Wade, Polly Shepherd, Lydia Van Auken."
Then follow the articles of faith and the covenant. At the same meeting, John Wade and Moses Hickok were set apart as elders in the church, and Aaron Shepherd was made the first deacon. Several of these constituent members, having come from New England, must have been Congregation- alists, but Presbyterianism had the stronger hold in this locality, and a matter of church government was not enough to estrange those who accepted the prime tenets of English dissent. Of these first eight members, all died in Rose, worthy members of their church, save three, who took letters of dismissal to churches in other localities. These were Simeon Van Auken and wife and Rufus Wells. Till his death in 1840, December 24th, Elder John Wade missed very few meetings of the session. Deacon Aaron Shepherd passed away in 1840, and Moses Hickok in 1826. Polly Shepherd, as the widow of Asel Dowd, of Huron, died in 1858. The student of local history finds much to admire in these names, representing men and women who followed blazed trees to their new homes in the wilderness. Pioneers, when the century was in its teens, they had first cast in their religious lot with the church originally located at Port Bay, since known as the First Church of Wolcott. It was a long ride for the Wades and Shepherds from their home in the south part of the town to this early church, but all of them were God-fearing people and, in their old Connecticut home, had been used to all-day sessions of worship in the edifice on Town hill, New Hartford. However, all must have hailed a church nearer home with no little satisfaction. "The school-house near John Closs'" and that " near Charles Thomas' " long served these people
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in lieu of an edifice of their own. Session meetings were held usually at private houses. March 8th, 1825, Elizur Flint applied for membership, and was received, and during the many subsequent years of his long life as elder, deacon and clerk, he went in and out before his fellow citizens, holding their highest respect. In April of the opening year, Mrs. Chloe Bishop united with the church and during their long lives she and her Baptist husband, Chauncey, walked in the most " orderly " manner their respective religious ways. Occasionally they would go together, but as a rule they separated as they left the vehicle which brought them to the village. In another world, they are beyond sects and creeds.
The Presbyterians had trouble with faithless members, as have had all churches from the beginning and, recorded in Deacon Flint's accurate and conscientious manner, the stories are entertaining reading, but as erring and weak humanity is not a product of any particular age or place, it is best to draw the mantle of oblivion over the deeds of those controlled by debasing appetite or unruly tempers. The membership of the church has never been large, but it has always included many of the best people in the town.
As already indicated, its meeting places were migratory till 1833, when a place of worship was dedicated on the site of the mill just east of the Baptist Church. It was uot showy, but built after the notions of church architecture then prevalent, it long answered the needs of the society. In or about 1862 it was sold to the village for a school-house and a new edifice of brick was erected on its present location. The old structure, from its school uses, became a mill, and as such was burned several years ago. The new one was dedicated in 1865. A commodious building, put up at a cost of about $8000, it is a highly ornamental feature in the north part of the village. The site was purchased of William Vanderoef ; that of the first edifice from Hiram Mirick. Though sold for secular purposes, Sunday services were held in the old structure till the dedication of the new.
The most interesting items in the records of the church are those per- taining to temperance and slavery. In the early days of Rose Presbyte- rianism, several men united with the church who were no temporizers in reform measures. Though no names are given as the writers of several resolutions, it is quite obvious to long-time observers of Rose matters that the man who first put up a frame for a barn, without the use of intoxicants, and who subsequently helped many a negro refugee towards a Canadian home, had much to do with the display of principles set forth upon these pages. The following statement was much to the credit of Rose people, irrespective of denominational lines : February 27, 1831. " The church unanimously resolved that they would hereafter receive to church fellow- ship no person who would not agree to abstain from the use of ardent
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spirits as a drink." The church had suffered much from a bibulous member, and dropped him only when thoroughly discouraged as to his reformation.
The church's most serious trouble, however, arose over slavery, and the following is on record : March 1, 1844. "At a meeting of the church to consider the subject of slavery, therefore
"Resolved, that slavery is a heinous sin against God and man-in the language of the General Assembly, utterly inconsistent with the law of God, and totally irreconcilable with the spirit and principles of the gospel of Christ, and we therefore believe Christians are bound to oppose the sin wherever it is intrenched, whether in church or state.
"Resolved, that the church of Jesus Christ has no right to sustain a permanent church relation to so vote a sin.
"Resolved, that we are unable to see why, if the church can safely sustain a church relation to this sin, and permanently tolerate the sum of villainies in her body, why she may not safely associate with and tolerate any other known habitual sin by the same rule.
"Resolved, that we cannot consent, with our views of the exceeding sin- fulness of slavery, to remain in a permanent church relation to it, and we believe if the whole Presbyterian Church will continue to connive with and fellowship this sin, despite the remonstrance of her members, and her acknowledgment of its inherent guilt; then it will become the duty of the minority to do right if the majority will not.
"Resolved, that we as a church will hold no fellowship or communion with slaveholders or their avowed apologists.
"Resolved, that the above resolutions be entered on the church records."
But these resolutions, however comprehensive and pertinent, did not satisfy the minds of the agitators, for that they continued to agitate is evident in that the church even determined to go out of the Presbyterian fold, hoping thereby to retain them. Accordingly, January 5, 1846, appears the following entry :
"Resolved, with the concurrence of Presbytery, that the Presbyterian Church of Rose adopt the Congregational form of government."
February 5, 1846, Deacon Flint writes : "Presbytery accede the right to the church to practice the foregoing resolution." Accordingly our Presbyterian became a Congregational body, and for some years there were no meetings of the session. To us of this day, these concessions seem to be all that any man or class of men could ask, but April 4, 1846, E. Flint and S. Lovejoy were appointed a committee "to visit those persons which have left the church informally and ascertain the reasons of their leaving." July 4, 1846, a good day for liberty sentiments, the com- mittee reported the following letter :
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"May 12th, 1846.
"To E. Flint :
"Sir-We cheerfully comply with your request in giving our reasons in writing for seceding from the Presbyterian Church of Rose, in order that they may be recorded in your church records. And we give for our first and great reason that we do not believe the Presbyterian Church to be a true church or, in other words, a church of Christ. And we found our belief on the following facts: First, because she does not teach or practice the first great principle of Christianity, viz., the inviolability of human rights, but suffers unrebuked one portion of her members to chattelize and traffic in the souls and bodies of another portion of her own members, thus virtually reducing the image of God (in the persons of many thousands of her own acknowledged members in her church for whom Christ died) to the condition of things, to property, and by impiously robbing them of their inalienable rights, have reversed the great law of love, this distinguishing feature between a true and a false church, and have completely annihilated the distinction which God has established between the nature and condition of immortal man and the beasts that perish, thus sanctioning crimes in her communion, which is utterly subversive of a church of Christ.
Second, that said church, with a full knowledge of these facts before her, did declare through her representative in her highest judicial capacity at the meeting of her last General Assembly, not only to the shame and disgrace of Christianity, but to our common humanity, that it was not for the edification of the church to take action on the subject. Thus, in effect, reversing her former decisions (though she never complied with them in practice), and sanctioning by that and subsequent acts in her lower judicatories, in refusing to bear witness against slavery, most of the crimes she charges against the church of Rome, and for which she does not hesitate to call her a church of anti-Christ, thus we are forced to the conclusion that she must and does necessarily partake of the character of the church of Rome in an exact proportion as in her practice she approxi- mates towards her, and we have not arrived at this conclusion in a hasty or precipitate manner ; we have long and faithfully examined this subject, as in the light of eternity, and are fully established in the belief, not with- out evidence, but from facts which cannot be denied, that the Presbyterian Church, in consequence of her participation in and by the position she has assumed, does, while sustaining such position with regard to American slavery, stand as truly convicted before high heaven and the world as does the Romish church of withholding the Bible from a portion of the laity. Of abrogating the institution of marriage at pleasure, compelling thousands of her members to live in adultery or in a state of forced con- cubinage, that she governs and holds her church together, not by the law
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of love, but by physical force, by the power of the sword and by pains and penalties-we cannot, therefore, in the light of divine truth, by the most favorable construction, believe the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America sustains the character necessary to constitute her a true church, or church of Christ. Samuel Lyman, Gideon Henderson, Daniel Lovejoy, Wm. Lovejoy."
Whereupon the church adopted the following :
"Resolved, that the report be accepted.
"Resolved, that the report be adopted.
"Resolved, that the names of Gideon Henderson and Deborah Henderson, Daniel Lovejoy and Wm. Lovejoy, Samuel Lyman and Clement Lyman and Caroline Lyman be stricken from our roll."
While deprecating such a disintegrating course, one cannot repress a feeling of admiration for people in whose breasts love of oppressed humanity had too strong a lodgment. Rose never had more reputable citizens.
As the cause of leaving the Presbyterian Church no longer existed, it is not surprising to find the following action :
April 18, 1851, at the instance of Elizur Flint, the following preamble and resolution were voted by a church meeting: "Whereas, this church obtained leave of Presbytery to withdraw from its care and assume the Congregational form of government for the purpose of reconciling diffi- culties-that existed between it and certain members, that harmony in views and actions might be promoted for the glory of God and good of man, and whereas after the lapse of five years, having tried the result of that action in vain, therefore, resolved, that this church ask Presbytery to receive us under their care and restore us to our former privileges, that we may enjoy the ordinances of God's house." Vote 21.
Protest. Rose, April 18, 1851. " We, the undersigned, disbelieving in and wholly abhorring the cruel and wicked system of American slavery and wishing to maintain no voluntary connection whatever with it, now send our earnest protest against uniting with or putting ourselves under the care of any Presbytery that holds any connection with that portion of the Presbyterian Church that holds slaveholders in its bosom. And we now ask the members of the Congregational Church of Rose, assembled on the 18th of April, to consider a proposition to put themselves under the care of Presbytery, to take this protest into consideration, and if they vote in favor of the proposition thus to unite, to consider us as no longer holding church connection with them. Vote 11.
From that date to the present, the church has continued in the Presby- tery. No religious body in the town has come up through greater tribulation, but it stands, to-day, a tribute to the sterling worth of its founders and fosterers and the cause which they loved.
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The list of ministers is a long and honorable one. The Rev. Jabez Spicer seems to have remained only a short time, and was followed by Revs. Jonathan Hovey and - Hubbel. In 1827-'29 Rev. Nathan Gillett filled the pastorate. One of the most notable clergymen of any denomination ever in the town was the Rev. William, better known as " Priest " Clark. He was here from 1829 to 1835, and the impression left was lasting and salutary. Then came Rev. Jesse Townsend, 1836 ; Rev. Solon G. Putnam, 1837, and Rev. Joseph Merrill in the same year. The Rev. Daniel Waldo, another remarkable figure in the history of the town and state, was here from '37 to '39. Rev. - Burbank was pastor till 1840, and was followed till January, 1847, by the Rev. Beaufort Ladd. Then came four years of the Rev. O. Fitch, and next the Revs. James Gregg and E. Everett to 1853 ; Rev. Chas. Kenmore, '54 ; Rev. B. Ladd, '59; Rev. Wm. Young, '65; Rev. Martin B. Gregg, '67; Rev. J. J. Crane, '70; Rev. Wm. Young, '75 ; Rev. J. A. Phelps, '77; Rev. E. G. Cheeseman, '82; Rev. J. McMaster, '85 to '88; Rev. Chas. Ray, '91; Rev. Nathan B. Knapp, 1893.
The deacons have been Aaron Shepherd, David Foster, Elizur Flint, Francis Osborn, Wm. Garlick, Judson Garlick, Charles E. Tillson.
The roll of elders includes John Wade, Moses Hickok, Rufus Wells, Smithfield Beaden, Elizur Flint, Martin Warner, Simeon Van Auken, David Foster, Gideon Henderson, Chauncey Smith, Wm. Lovejoy, George Wickson, Jesse O. Wade, Lorenzo N. Snow, James Osborn, Lampson Allen, H. K. Lovejoy, Harvey Closs, Eustace Henderson, Frank H. Closs, Ira T. Soule.
The first clerk was James Van Auken and he served till November 9, 1829. Then Smithfield Beaden kept the records till November 2, 1834. Next Elizur Flint took up the pen and he used it faithfully till October 24, 1882, when the following entry is found, "I, Elizur Flint, clerk of sessions of the Presbyterian Church of Rose, resign the office on account of the infirmities of age, being eighty-nine." To him succeeded Harvey Closs till September 13, 1885, and then the latter's son, Frank H. Closs, became clerk and still holds the office. The church belongs to the Lyons Presbytery.
FREE METHODIST CHURCH.
This body is an offshoot of the M. E. Church and dates from about 1860. Bishop Matthew Simpson, in his Cyclopedia of Methodism, gives the date of the organization as August 23 of the above year, and states .that its origin was within the confines of the Genesee Conference, dissatisfaction having arisen among certain ministers concerning the administration of affairs. This unrest had been growing for several years, and 1860 was simply the culminating date. In doctrines it differs in no essential respect from the parent body. It retains conference boundaries, Rose being in the Susquehanna ; instead of bishops it has a general superintendent, and in place of presiding elder, it maintains a chairman of the district.
Probably the chief cause for the beginning of the Rose Free Methodist Church may be found in the discussions incident to rebuilding the place of worship of the old church after its burning in 1859. Naturally there was much diversity of opinion as to the form, location and cost of the new structure. At any rate, in 1860, the seeds of the new church seem to have been sown. In the formation and maintenance of this church, none was more prominent than Thaddeus and Josephus Collins, father and son, and for more than thirty years the latter has remained steadfast at his post. Probably no name in the state, in the ranks of this body, is better known than that of F. J. Collins. By his presence, speech and purse, he has made for himself a foremost position among the faithful. His home has ever been open to the ministers, and once a camp meeting was held in a grove upon his farm. His only daughter is the wife of one of the success- ful clergymen of the denomination, the Rev. Wm. Winget, now of Buffalo, chairman of that district.
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