USA > New York > The Diocese of Central New York; the founding fathers > Part 3
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THE FOUNDING FATHERS
Henry Hobart, third Bishop of the Diocese of New York, was reared and educated.
Born in Philadelphia, September 14, 1775, the son of a prosper- ous merchant, Hobart received his early schooling at the Episcopal Academy of that city. Later, he matriculated at the University of Pennsylvania, though he finished his collegiate training at Prince- ton in 1793. Following parental wishes he settled down to become a business man, a profession for which he had neither interest nor inclination. As might be expected, he soon turned his back upon the counting houses and market places and withdrew to an aca- demic life at Princeton. But even here, surrounded as he was by the calm and security of a university, he found himself adrift. Then it was he began thinking of the ministry, an idea that waxed as he came under the influence of the Rt. Rev. William White, Bishop of Pennsylvania. Hence in due time he knelt before the altar at Christ Church, Philadelphia, and was ordained a deacon, June 3, 1798, by Bishop White. Later, April 15, 1801, he was ordained priest by Bishop Provoost.
The impression made by White upon the young clergyman was significant. Bishop White was a great teacher, particularly in the field of theology, chiefly of a Protestant or Low Church variety. Hobart retained this idea of churchmanship so long as his pastoral life was identified with the metropolitan area of Philadelphia and his friend, the Bishop. But within less than a year after becoming a deacon he moved to New Brunswick, New Jersey, where he was placed in charge of Christ Church. Then the transformation began. Not that he forgot Bishop White but rather that his sensitive mind became subject to a new stimulus. Possibly it was because he wooed and married Mary Chandler and through this alliance was brought into direct contact with the High Church views of her father, the Rev. Thomas B. Chandler. The latter, we are told, had been a strong defender of Anglicanism during those days he served his king as a priest in "The Church of England in the Colonies." The two-Hobart and his father-in-law-must have discussed Church history and theology, but how significant this relationship was in the making of Hobart's own thinking is uncertain. In all prob- ability, Hobart's own reading and study, stimulated doubtless by his wife's father, was a more deciding factor. Be that as it may, the evangelical low churchman of 1798 was slowly evolving into an ardent exponent of a "Catholic and Apostolic Church."
From New Brunswick the Hobarts moved to Hampstead, Long
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RT. REV. JOHN HENRY HOBART, S.T.D.
JOHN HENRY HOBART
Island, and in late 1800 to New York City, where he became assistant minister at Trinity Church. James T. Addison, in his delightful study of the Church, relates Hobart's early years at Trinity. With an energy that surprised everyone, he became an active and tireless minister. At other times he was secretary to the House of Bishops, the House of Deputies, and Diocesan Conven- tion; and deputy to the General Convention. His life was also busy with educational and promotional matters. He was prominent in the Protestant Episcopal Society for Promoting Religion and Learning in the State of New York, was the architect of the con- stitution of the Protestant Episcopal Theological Society, a pro- moter in 1809 of the Bible and Common Prayer Book Society of New York, and for three years was editor of the Churchman's Magazine, the ancestor of the present Churchman. Also there ap- peared from his pen A Companion for the Altar, A Companion for the Festivals and Fasts of the Church, A Collection of Essays on the Subject of Episcopacy, and An Apology for Apostolic Order and Its Advocates. All of these appeared between 1804 and 1807, when he was becoming acquainted with the Church at Utica. Nor should it be forgotten that he was a Trustee of Columbia College. Astonishingly productive years! Years during which he was in close companionship with Bishop Moore, who most surely must have been impressed and possibly influenced by his young assistant rector.
But greater accomplishments lay ahead, the road to which opened on his consecration as Assistant Bishop of New York in 1811. Upon Bishop Moore's death in 1816-Bishop Provoost had died the year before-Hobart became Bishop, his diocesan home being Trinity Church, New York City, of which he also was Rector. His standing in the Church, already high, soared to new heights as his influence and vitality spread unto the uttermost parts of the diocese and beyond. Much of his preeminence stemmed from an unparalleled record of administration at the diocesan level and from missionary achievements that followed in upstate New York. And there was so much to be done! Within this area, towns and villages were springing up as restless but vigorous folk from New England, New York, and Pennsylvania swept into the state.
Even before 1811, Hobart's attention had been turned toward this frontier and communities like Paris Hill, Utica, Salina, Au- burn, Onondaga Hill and Harpursville became commonplace to
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THE FOUNDING FATHERS
him.1 Moreover, he heard from his diocesan and from missionary reports of the early "apostles to the west" of the Church's growth and promise. It came as no surprise, therefore, to his friends that before the end of 1811 plans had been formulated and were unfold- ing themselves. The heralds of this advance were the Clark broth- ers-William Atwater and Orin-sons of John and Chloe Clark, onetime residents of New Marlborough, Massachusetts, later of Manlius, and still later of Geneva. Ordained deacons in October of the same year they made their presence felt in central and west- ern New York within a month, preaching, baptizing and inspiring the settlers in Auburn, Manlius and Skaneateles to greater efforts and achievements. Meanwhile Phelps, Baldwin and Nash labored as before. Their letters to Hobart must have pleased him but more than that stimulated him to see things for himself. Accordingly in the months immediately preceding the 1812 Convention he jour- neyed into his inland empire. Of these activities and those of his missionaries, Convention heard a story not dreamed of as possible. Hobart alone announced visitations to Oneida, Cayuga, Onondaga, Ontario and Oswego counties, where he confirmed five hundred per- sons and consecrated four churches, one being St. Peter's, Auburn.
That was in 1812 -- a war year, be it remembered-and stood as the record of but one man. Writing from Auburn, August 18, 1815, to Nathan Williams of Utica, he said :
I find the congregations prosperous. On Sunday AM. the Chh. at Manlius was consecrated and where I adminis- tered confirmation to 44 persons ; performed a third service. Monday, I visited Tully Flat, where a congregation has been recently organized and 27 persons were confirmed. Tuesday, I officiated again at Manlius and yesterday's con- firmation was administered here to 24 persons.
It was the beginning and not the end. Between then and his death in 1830 he visited the frontiers of his diocese eleven times. Doubt- less a better average would have been earned but for the stress of work in down-state New York and a serious illness that forced a two year rest abroad. How many thousands of miles he traveled on his missionary trips is not known; and it should be recalled that his itinerary never followed the shortest distance between two
1 In 1806, for example, he was writing to Nathan Williams of Utica, a prominent Churchman, in reference to the work of the Diocese; a friendship that continued for many years. See the Williams Papers, Onei- da Historical Society, Utica, N. Y.
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JOHN HENRY HOBART
points but meandered in all directions. Forward and backward he went, frequently traversing a road twice amid hardships quite unknown today. In one instance he was "compelled to travel all night" by stage coach ; in another, the journey was "unusually diffi- cult by the extraordinary freshets" and again, because of the con- ditions of the roads "through a new and very mountainous country . it was necessary I should leave my carriage and walk." Be- tween September 13th and the 22nd, 1827, for example, he visited Harpursville, Binghamton, Coventry, Oxford, Sherburne, Otisco, Syracuse, Perryville and New Berlin in order. Weather conditions were probably acceptable but it may have been hot and humid in July of the next year when he tramped about Oneida visiting places such as Oneida Castle, where he confirmed ninety-seven persons. One may speculate on temperatures of another journey into Jeffer- son County in January. Nor should it be assumed that his hosts- clergymen or the laity-were always able to provide comfortable lodgings. Few indeed were the rectors who were fortunate to have homes like that enjoyed by the Rev. J. C. Rudd of Auburn.
But as always the toil of labor was fully repaid, especially when a visitation coincided with a consecration. Between 1815 and 1830, both inclusive, there were seventeen such events in Central New York. These included the churches at Manlius, Brownville, Bing- hamton, Harpursville, Moravia, Bainbridge, New Berlin, Con- stableville, Holland Patent, New Hartford, Oneida Castle, Paris Hill, Skaneateles, Ithaca, Syracuse, Oswego and Waterloo. On other days he confirmed classes, large and small, preached from simple platforms or more pretentious pulpits, and celebrated the Lord's Supper before a simple wooden table or an altar tucked below a combination reading desk and pulpit. Many were the times he held services in the homes of loyal churchmen, or in public halls as well as the edifices of other faiths.
Naturally the success of Hobart's work was dependent in part upon the efforts of the clergy, sixty-two in number, who resided in Central New York during his episcopate.1 These included the old guard of Davenport Phelps, Daniel Nash, William A. Clark, Amos G. Baldwin, Parker Adams, and Jonathan Judd. Of the others a few deserve recognition, such as Russell Wheeler who officiated in Broome and Chenango counties and founded Christ Church, Sher-
1 At the time of Hobart's death the total number of clergy in the dio- cese was 128, of which 28 were in Central New York; in 1810 there had been 47 for the state and but 5 in Central New York.
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THE FOUNDING FATHERS
burne. Also active was William B. Lacey whose ministry at New Berlin was significant. Equally well known were Leverett Bush who was at Oxford (1818-1842) and James Keeler, one time rector at Binghamton. Then there were Marcus H. Perry, rector at Rome and missionary to stations such as Holland Patent; Algernon S. Hollister of Paris Hill, Oneida, and Skaneateles; and Edward Andrews who labored chiefly at New Berlin and Sherburne.
Another prominent missionary was Ezekial Gear who toured Onondaga and Cortland counties and extended his visits to places in Oneida, Madison and Oswego; he was also twice rector at Ith- aca, first between 1818 and 1828 and again from 1834-1836. One of his friends was Amos Pardee who labored in Onondaga, Madi- son and Oneida before moving in turn to Oswego, Harpursville and Skaneateles. Nor should one overlook Daniel McDonald at Auburn (1814-17) and Waterloo (1822-25). Also associated with the Church at Auburn was John C. Rudd who while there launched the Gospel Messenger, one of the better early Church papers in America. Often mentioned in this news sheet was John McCarthy, who spent close to twenty years in Oswego County, chiefly as Rector of Christ Church, Oswego. Also in the same county was William L. Keese, whose work at Sackett's Harbor, Brownville, Cape Vincent and Watertown, all in Jefferson County, was out- standing. His neighbor to the south was Joshua M. Rogers who held services in Turin, Lowville, Port Leyden and Boonville. At Trinity Church, Utica, were Henry Anthon and Benjamin Dorr. Finally, there were Burton H. Hickox, who founded a church at Pompey and worked at Manlius, and William J. Bulkley, who officiated at Chittenango, Jamesville, Fayetteville and Manlius.
Relating these activities in another way and at the same time indicating the wide scope of Hobart's interests and travels, one notes that during his episcopate a total of thirty-one parishes and missions were established. It is true that three or four of these did not become permanent, though several others ultimately grew into parishes of importance. In addition his ministrations embraced those churches founded prior to his time. Including these one finds in Broome a parish at Binghamton and missions at Harpursville and Windsor ; in Cayuga, there was a parish at Auburn and a mission at Moravia. Chemung, however, had but two missions-Big Flats and Catlin. Oxford was the parish, and Bainbridge, Guilford, New Berlin and Sherburne the missions in Chenango County. In Jeffer- son there were three missions-Brownville, Sacketts Harbor and
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JOHN HENRY HOBART
Watertown, while Lewis had a mission at Constableville ; neither county had a parish. In Oneida the parishes were at New Hart- ford, Paris Hill and Utica, with missions at Holland Patent, Onei- da Castle, Oriskany and Rome. Onondaga had missions at Manlius, Marcellus, Pompey, Skaneateles, Onondaga Hill, and Syracuse, though the latter in 1830 was listed as being both a mission and a parish. Madison had Perryville, Hamilton and Canastota as mis- sions, while in Oswego there was but a single society, a mission in the village of Oswego. Seneca had missions at Waterloo and Ovid, and Tompkins had one at Ithaca. Cortland and Tioga counties had no organized societies. Thus in 1830 there were seven parishes, of which two had been in existence before 1811, and twenty-nine missions, four of which preceded Hobart's episcopate.
Considerable difficulty was experienced in tabulating these re- sults because of the poor editing of the Journal or the uncertainty of meaning in the use of terms. The status of Syracuse is an illus- tration. In addition the Journal described nineteen churches as having been consecrated but at the same time lists only seven of these as parishes. Again, mission stations were listed at Vienna, Canastota, Catherine and Amber, though none of these enjoyed either a resident or visiting missionary. It may also be noted that religious societies are mentioned at Genoa, Montezuma, Coventry, Danby, Marcellus, Guilford, Oriskany and Verona without stating, in 1830, whether they are missions or parishes. Finally, the Journal indicates that services were held at times at places such as Lisle, Locke, Port Byron, Homer, Cortland, Adams, Lowville, Hamilton, Salina, Geddes, Liverpool, Ludlowville, Dryden and Norwich.
The presence of parishes and missions at diocesan conventions continued to be somewhat spotty during the early years of Hobart's ministry, though it improved especially after 1825. Utica, Auburn, Manlius, Oxford, Waterloo and Binghamton had a reasonable rec- ord of attendance. Among the laity present were Morris S. Miller, Gerrit Van Wagenen, Robert Muir, Reuben West, Jay Hathaway and Jedediah Sanger, of Utica, Oxford, Auburn, Onondaga Hill, Rome, and New Hartford respectively. On a few occasions no delegates, clerical or lay, were present. But in general the number who attended was fair when one recalls the expense as well as the time involved in travel to New York City where conventions were generally held. Clerical delegates did receive a travel allowance of four cents a mile in excess of twenty miles; the laity, however, met their own expenses.
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THE FOUNDING FATHERS
But the significant thing to remember in respect to attendance at convention is that it reflected a mounting interest in the Church throughout Central New York. More evidence of this growth may be illustrated by sampling the contributions made in this area for diocesan expenses. According to the Diocesan Treasurer's reports these sums were grouped under the heads of Missions, Diocesan Funds, and the Episcopate Funds. In reference to the first, which for the purposes of this chapter may be defined as offerings for missionary work within New York, it should be borne in mind that no provision existed for diocesan missions before 1795. In that year Trinity Church, New York City, initiated a practice of contribu- ting for the "promotion of religion upon the frontiers of the state." The first subsidy amounted to £150 which at the time probably equalled more than $750.00. Needless to say this gratuity was but a pittance and one can only conclude that Central New York's share must have been negligible. Nor did the inception in 1802, by the same parish, of the Society for the Promotion of Religion and Learning within the state help materially. The efforts of this organization were bent toward religious education and only at times were grants made for missions.
Manwhile in 1798 the Diocesan Convention had founded the Committee for the Propogation of the Gospel in New York. Under its guidance voluntary contributions were solicited throughout the state. The method of collection varied. In many instances an offer- ing for this end was made following a missionary sermon by a clergyman ; in others it was handled by a local society. Precisely how much was raised can not be stated on the basis of data from the Journal. Parochial and missionary reports were not always given in the early Journals but even after the practice became com- mon the substance and character of the information varied consid- erably. The missionary at Unadilla and Bainbridge, for example, indicated in 1828 that the "collections for different funds at both places were ten dollars" without showing what each station con- tributed ; while his co-worker at Onondada Hill included everything in a statement about offerings having been made to missionary and diocesan funds. But taking the Journal at its face value, it was only in the late 1820's that contributions from Central New York are worth noting. During the four years starting with 1827 the following sums were received: 1827, $183.50; 1828, $119.35; 1829, $128.87; and 1830, $143.56; the combined total being but a fraction of what was raised in the state. Hobart's reports to
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JOHN HENRY HOBART
General Convention give some indication of amounts raised dioc- esan-wide. For the triennium 1820-23, the sum was $4,603.00; for 1823-26, it was $6,385; and for 1826-30, $5,702.00
But Central New York, a missionary area in itself, was making a contribution that should be measured in terms of interest rather than the number of dollars, though the latter had grown as a result of Hobart's efforts. The Bishop, moreover, was not hostile to the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Epis- copal Church established by Convention in 1820. Membership in this organization was in part dependent upon the payment of annual gifts, though to augment the sum auxiliary groups composed chiefly of women were formed in many parishes. In general the society's domestic field was limited to the territories and states between the Alleghanies and the Mississippi River, and a study of the Journal shows contributions from Central New York. Trinity, Utica, whose offerings amounted to about one-fourth of the funds raised in this area for diocesan funds, was relatively a generous patron to the national society. Others deserving mention were the parishes at New Hartford, Oxford and Auburn. Hobart's sentiments in reference to these domestic missions was stated at the Diocesan Convention in 1827. "The General Domestic and Foreign Mis- sionary Society," he remarked, "which provides for places not with- in the range of our diocesan efforts, is much in need of funds. Collections have been made for it in the churches of which I have the parochial charge . . . And I hope that wherever it can be done without interference with the numerous claims of the destitute portions of our Diocese, there will be a readiness to contribute toward the general extension of the truths of the Gospel."1 The Bishop, in brief, placed his own needs above those of the Church elsewhere-a policy followed by other diocesans. Shortly before his death, however, he informed the national society of his desire to recommend diocesan support for the Oneida Indians at Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Central New York has never ceased to sing the praises of its great bishop. Data gleaned from the Journal and his correspond- ence testifies to his many accomplishments. In addition to the rising financial returns from this area, mention should be made of bap- tisms. In contrast to earlier years, the total for the last four years
1 In his report to General Convention, 1823, Hobart stated that New York had given $1,339.17 for work in Ohio, which represented forty-six percent of all that Ohio had received from the Church in America.
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of his episcopate amounted to nearly eight hundred persons. Com- municants during this period rose from less than seven hundred to over nine hundred, of which Trinity, Utica, accounted for more than eleven per cent. Sunday School enrollment likewise rose, as did the number of new churches founded and the new edifices and rectories erected.
It is easy, however, to over-weigh the contributions of the Bishop under whose guidance Central New York was nourished. He was, it will be recalled, able to tap the funds of his parish, Trinity, New York, so as to advance the Church's crusade in that area. Nor should one forget the aid given by several diocesan soci- eties in providing Prayer Books, Bibles and tracts at little or no cost, and occasionally by aiding in the support of missionaries. The Journal of 1827, for example, shows that Joshua M. Rogers, offi- ciating in Lewis County, received financial help from the "Protes- tant Episcopal Society of Young Men and Others." In October, 1815, Bishop Hobart informed his Utica friend, Nathan Williams, that "Mr. Smith would receive an annual allowance of $80 from the Episcopal Society for aiding him in his education for the min- istry." Without these sources of income, present in an age that evidenced low parochial aid for diocesan and local expenses, much less would have been done. Hobart, like his successors today, be- moaned the penuriousness of the laity and repeatedly urged them and their pastors to meet the "prescribed missionary collections." Although these admonitions fell upon the churchmen of the churches in Syracuse, Moravia, and elsewhere as well as upon the congrega- tions at Albany and New York City, the Central New York, being largely a mission field, may be pardoned for not having done more. But a dollar gap, so to speak, remained between the supply, on the one hand, and the mounting demand for more and more mission- aries.
Paradoxically, this demand in itself helped in making Hobart's efforts so successful. The explanation for this seemingly conflicting statement may be found in the conditions of those years Hobart graced the Diocese of Central New York. Especially was it true following the close of the War of 1812. During this unhappy conflict, American economy had been thrown back upon its own resources and a trend had been initiated, nationalistic in nature, that influenced our country's history for many decades. America, it would seem, had reversed its point of view ; it ceased to look out upon the Atlantic and its European origins and commitments.
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JOHN HENRY HOBART
Turning its back upon this heritage, the nation saw its future tied inextricably with the West. Thus an era was ushered in that wit- nessed the overland trek of a proud people. From down-state New York and its neighbor Pennsylvania, but chiefly from New Eng- land, land hungry families poured westward, attracted in many instances by the Eldorado promises of land companies and specula- tors. It was an age when the older sections of the country were deluged with stories of "milk and honey" to be found upstate as well as in those areas to the west. It was a day that saw great road construction, such as the Seneca (Genesee) Turnpike, the building of bridges, and the digging of canals. Following these highways a host of hardy folk came to New York seeking homesteads in the rural areas or to find employment in the many communities that sprang up almost hither and yonder. Some of these settlers were sons of the Church though the greater share were either of other faiths or unchurched. Here indeed was an opportunity the Church could not miss. Here were men and women eager and ripe for spiritual guidance and ministration and it became the purpose of the Church in New York under Hobart to provide them with a liturgy and a doctrine so many sorely needed.
Our diocesan of that day was quick to sense the challenge of a young and virile people. His reputation as an apologist for the Church had been demonstrated before his elevation to the episco- pacy. Since that time he had never ceased to air his attitudes in timely sermons, addresses, and directives to clergy and laity alike. In 1815 many of the latter read with interest his Charge to the Clergy. Three years later he issued a timely tract entitled The Corruptions of the Church of Rome Contrasted with Certain Prot- estant Errors and in the following year he published another pamphlet, The Churchmen, in which he stated the basic tenets of the Church and compared these with the Roman and Protestant opinions. Others appeared during the years that preceded his death in 1830. Meanwhile his pastoral addresses to Convention demanded and received respect. In 1826, for example, his message read in part as follows :
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