USA > New York > Orange County > Montgomery > The Goodwill memorial, or, The first one hundred and fifty years of the Goodwill Presbyterian Church : Montgomery, Orange Co., N.Y. > Part 6
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Extensive repairs have also been made on the parsonage and the farm buildings. All are in fair order and unencumbered . with debt. And the church remains among the first in the Presbytery, in proportion to its membership, in its contribu- tions to the Boards for the furtherance of the Gospel else- where. We can truly say, " The Lord of Hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge."
While this church has thus been filling its place-doing and enduring for the Master-the Presbyterian Church to which it belongs has grown with the growth of the nation, and is
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to-day a mighty agency for good. In 1729 there were three Presbyteries united in one Synod, with twenty-seven ministers and about the same number of churches.
Now, exclusive of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, which went out from us in 1810, with its (about) 25 Synods, III Presbyteries, 1275 ministers and licentiates, and 2000 churches ; and the Presbyterian Church in the United States (South), with its 12 Synods, 63 Presbyteries, 1079 ministers and licentiates, and 1821 churches ; the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America has thirty-six (36) Synods, one hundred and seventy-tivo (172) Presbyteries, five thousand and sixty-cight (5068) ministers and licentiates, and five thousand and seventy-seven (5077) churches. "Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of His holiness."
The review of these years suggests some practical lessons.
I. They should bring to our minds the recuperative power and permanency of the church-permanency even in the midst of revolutions in the political world, and power to rally from every devastation that may come. Again and again this organization-well-nigh fifty years older than our national government-has been like the vine torn by the storm and broken to the very earth. Branch after branch has been vio- lently severed from it, and so planted that their shadow might fall upon the parent stock. But with the early dew and the first beam of sunshine, it has revived and developed new life, and has soon regained all its pristine beauty ; and in spirit, in activity, and in real power, this mother-church will to-day compare favorably with any of the daughters, towards all of whom the utmost good-will is entertained. God has mani- festly acknowledged His people here, "The branch of my planting, the work of my hand, that I may be glorified."
2. The history of this community, which in the matter of divisions is wonderfully in keeping with the history of our church at large, admonishes us that in amicableness, Presby- terians have nothing to boast of over their neighbors of other denominations. They seem never to have forgotten that they
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belong to the church militant. This is all right in its place- this combating spirit-and, rightly exercised, it is productive of great good. It is one of the elements in the strong Christian character which in love and meekness achieves its greatest victories-a reserve force that gives dignity to tenderness and compassion, and that in seasons of necessity may be marshalled to the front. I have more than once heard mention made of a tradition, that, in days gone by, the members of a church in a sister denomination crept into one of their early church edifices by means of a ladder which they drew in after them for fear of the Indians. But I hear of no traditional hint that the Indians ever molested the public worship of the first settlers here. It is pleasant to think that they were probably subdued by love and good-will ; and if some who could not thus be brought into subjection were kept at a distance by the spirit of which we speak, it may also serve as an illustration of how we should repel a more formidable foe; for with weapons "not carnal, but spiritual," " we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." But with weapons not altogether spiritual, Presbyterians have had too much internal warfare. It is to be hoped that we are entering an era in which the great Presbyterian family, and indeed the whole Protestant world, drawn closely together in Christian sym- pathy, will present an unbroken front to the formidable foes of God and man with which we are called to contend. I love to contemplate the perfect peace that has prevailed among this people during the almost seven years I have spent among them, as an omen of the peace which should be universal- " peace ... as a river," and " righteouness as the waves of the sea."
3. The study of the period covered by our narrative shows that as the generations have come and gone, there have been great advances in morality. Only forty-six years ago, this congregation enjoined their building committee that spirituous liquors should not be allowed in or about the building while
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the church was undergoing repairs. When we remodelled the same structure five years since, we never thought of a necessity for any such action. The records of the early sessions and other church courts show that a vast amount of discipline had to be exercised in consequence of drunkenness aud more heinous sins. Now it is a rare thing with all the evil that is abroad, to find a call for such action on account of flagrant vices. Verily there has been progress. The devel- opment of American Christianity has its cheering features. "Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not inquire wisely concern- ing this."
But what of the future ? Our country, yet young and comparatively inexperienced, stands at the portal of a new century. With the establishment of the church in this land was the planting of the colonies. Hand in hand with the development of the church, and borrowing life therefrom, was the development of the embryo nationality. It was of the church, as it was of Christianity, that the nation at length stood up giant like in its strength and threw off the yoke of foreign oppression. Out of Zion has gone forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, in relation to all the great moral questions that have come to the front during the century that has passed. The forces of evil in the land that would lay all things prostrate before them, if they could, are tremendous. The opposing, redeeming forces provided of God are more than equal to every occasion. "When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him," but in connection with and through the church. The responsibility should be felt just where it belongs. The message is as much needed now as of old, and it must emanate from the same source: "Be wise now, therefore, O ye kings; be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Kiss the son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him." "Blessed [is the nation whose God is the Lord."
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This, however, is but a small part of what should claim our attention. Nations rise and fall, and new ones spring up from their ruins. But the " kingdom of heaven "-the church of the living God-continues, and is yet to triumph gloriously. That which is set forth alike in promise and prophecy is tersely expressed in the familiar stanza :
" Jesus shall reign where'er the sun Does his successive journeys ran : His kingdom stretch from shore to shore Till moons shall wax and wane no more."
Each particular church has its place to fill and its work to do in extending the knowledge of the Lord, and in the bringing in of His kingdom with power. Each church is a part of the kingdom, and should strive to be in purity, in love, in zeal, and Christian activity, "the perfection of beauty " out of which God 'shines, and to this end each in itself and in its members must be " strong in the Lord and in the power of His might."
These old fields-the rural districts of the East-need not yield, as some suppose they must, to foreign influences and to those who will subvert the foundations laid by the fathers. But their perpetuity, as they are, depends upon the life-power developed from within the existing church organizations. As generation after generation has handed down what we enjoy, we should transmit the inheritance unimpared, and if possible enhanced in value, to those who shall succeed us.
" Thus shall we best proclaim abroad The honors of our Savior God."
Thus shall we save ourselves and those for whom God has made us responsible.
"Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord : O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity." Amen.
II.
A LIST OF ELDERS
IN THE GOODWILL CHURCH FROM ITS ORGANIZATION, IN SO FAR AS CAN BE ASCERTAINED, WITH SKETCHES OF THE LIVES OF A FEW OF THEM.
NAME. Matthew Rhea (or Rea), ) John Neely,
Alexander Kidd,
Robert Hunter,
Patrick Barber,
Arthur Beatty, In 1770,
Thomas Gimerell, David Jagger,
About 1771. August 21st, 1796.
Matthew Rhea,
November, 1801.
December 8th, 1814. Feb. 6th, 179S.
August 11th, 1806.
February 12th, 1836. September 24th, IS26. December 11th, 1831. July 18th, 1821.
August 2d, 1853. September 28th, 1832.
In 1823.
Nathaniel Brewster,
William Graham, Gideon Pelton,'
August 26th, 1838. June 13th, 1847.
Andrew N. Young, Charles Miller, Thomas B. Scott,
April, 1859.
James Van Keuren, M. D.
January 17th, 1869.
James W. Bowne, James C. Bull,
January 17th, 1869.
Conrad Loskamp, John Wylie, David Jagger, Samuel Finley, Joseph B. Hadden, Pliny E. Hawkins,
August 20th, 1876.
Ceased to Act. Previous to 1770. Subsequent to 1770, About 1778. January, 1776. Sept. 2Ist, 1790. March 9th, 1774.
Abraham Dickerson, James Caldwell (or Colwell) Arthur Parks, John Barber,
About 1786.
William Coddington, William Faulkner, Thomas McKissock,
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In ISI9. 66
James Hunter, Henry Miller, ( Cyrus Lyon, Walter Mead,
June 2d, 1869. March 22d, 1860. February 2d, 1861. December 14th, 1877.
May 3d, 1862. November 5th, IS6S.
May 20th. 1876.
October 26th, IS79.
.
Inducted into Office.
Not definitely known but all previous to 1770.
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A few of these left this church and joined churches else- where. Their record is with the churches with which they became incorporated. It is for others, therefore, to testify to their continued faithfulness to the Master. Of this class are Caldwell, who was dismissed to Goshen; McKissock and James Hunter, who joined in the organization of the Berea church; Mead and Lyon, who joined in the organization of the Montgomery village church, with Pelton who was dis- missed to it afterwards ; and Scott, now of Poughkeepsie, who was dismissed to the Second Presbyterian church of Middle- town.
Of a much larger class, all of whom probably served in the eldership here till their death, we know but little aside from what we glean from defective family records and other private sources, with occasional mention of them in connection with civil and military affairs. These are the first ten upon the list, with Parks, Coddington, and Faulkner.
MATTHEW RHEA, JOHN NEELY, ALEXANDER KIDD AND ROBERT HUNTER .- These head the list, and for years have been regarded as the first elders of the church. But for this there is no documentary evidence extant, while in so far as one of them is concerned there is conclusive evidence to the contrary. In our grave-yard there is on a tomb-stone, which was erected after the death of his second wife, Ann Neely, and specially to her memory, an inscription also to the memory of Robert Hunter. He departed this life in January, 1776, aged sixty-two years. He was born about 1714, and was but a boy of fifteen years in 1729-only five years older than the second Matthew Rhea, whose name appears in the list of the elders who were ordained in 1770. This settles the matter definitely in so far as this Robert Hunter is concerned. But there is a clearly defined tradition, in at least one branch of the Hunter family, that an ancestor of theirs was active in the establishment of the church, and was ordained one of its first elders. Was he the father of Archibald, James and Robert? In the Historical Discourse the arrival of the three brothers is stated to have occurred, according to family tradition, in
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LIST OF ELDERS.
1727. Robert was at that time a boy of thirteen years. Archibald was probably the eldest, as the purchase of his land from the patentee, of which we have not the definite date, would seem to have been as early as 1728 or '9. But he must have been at the time quite young, as he did not die till some ime subsequent to 1784. We find also, in the list of church members in 1770, a Martha Hunter. She was not the daugh- er of either of these three brothers, nor in so far as we have the names of their sons' wives does she appear among them. The inquiry naturally arises, was she not a sister of the three orothers? Can any one fail to recognize in all this the one Hunter family among the early settlers, the names of the parents in which are lost and the father of which may have been one of the original elders. And if there was a Robert Hunter among the first elders of the church. this doubtless was the man.
Another of the elders ordained at the organization of the church may have been John McNeal, notwithstanding all tra- ditions to the contrary. His presence in the Synod of Phila- delphia in 1729, taken in connection with the records of the Synod in 1735 (see Historical Discourses) are at least con- clusive as to the place which he held in the estimation of "the people of Walkill." if not, in the last instance, as to official position.
But taking the first four on the list, in their order of MATTHEW RHEA, we know nothing except that he had a son Matthew, who, in 1729, was ten years of age, and who was ordained an elder in 1770; and probably another son, named James, who had either a wife or sister named Martha, as the names of James and Martha Rhea appear together in the roll of church members in 1770.
Of JOHN NEELY, we only know that he was one of an extensive and influential family connection, who appear to lave been specially active in bringing in the first settlers, but whose name has entirely disappeared from the community. Truthfulness to the early position of the church in the matter of discipline calls for the statement of an occurrence in his
5
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life which was exceptional. Once, in his old age, he became intoxicated ; but so frank was his confession, with his explana- tion of the circumstances which led to his fall, and so decided and yet kind was the rebuke of his associates in the session, that this spot, in the contrast, only makes the luster of all their lives the brighter. Both he and Rhea may have been of the number of original elders.
Of the family of ALEXANDER KIDD, of the date of whose arrival we have no account, but who, in 1736, bought land adjoining that of Archibald Hunter on the north, a record has been preserved. He married Jane Calderwood, and had three sons and two daughters.
I. Robert, the eldest son, married Mary McGowan. To them were born : 1. Andrew, who married Margaret Kidd ; 2. John, who married Mary Blake ; 3. Daniel, who married Mary Milliken ; 4. Robert, died young; 5. Archibald, who married Mary Smith ; 6. William, who married Elizabeth Monell ; 7. Margaret, who married (1) Hugh Milliken, (2) Christian Christ ; 8. Jane, who married Matthew R. Hunter ; 9. Mary, who mar- ried John D. Hamilton.
II. Alexander, married Mehetable Haines. To them were born : I. Alexander, who married Frances Bodine ; 2. David, who married Clarissa Jessup; 3. Benjamin, died unmarried ; 4. Charles, who married Eunice Cooper; 5. Anna, who mar. ried Henry Weller ; 6. Margaret, who married Andrew Kidd : 7. Mary, who married Lewis Bodine.
III. James, married (1) -, (2) Widow Bayard, (3) Jemima Condit. To them were born: I. Robert, died unmarried ; 2. James, who married Margaret Hamilton ; 3. Henry, who married Elizabeth Topping ; 4. Christiana, who married David Parshall; 5. Elizabeth, died unmarried.
IV. Anna, the eldest daughter, married Samuel Crawford. To them were born : 1. Samuel, who married Margaret Gilles. pie ; 2. John, who married Sarah Barkley ; 3. Rachel, who married Andrew Hanmore.
V. Hannah, married Alexander Willson. To them were born: 1. Thomas, who married Ellen Hill ; 2. David, who
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LIST OF ELDERS.
married Abigail Gillespie ; 3. Andrew, who married Jennie Gillespie; 4. Catherine, who married (1) James Willson, (2) William Martin; 5. Hannah, who married John Rednor.
That KIDD, too, was one of the elders ordained at the organization of the church, is not at all improbable.
The descendants of the Hunter's are probably more numer- ous to-day than those of Kidd, and as a laudable desire has been manifested of late, in some branches of the family, to trace their ancestors, a clew to the descendants of JAMES will be given as well as those of ROBERT, for ARCHIBALD never married. He left the most of his property to his brother James' children and grandchildren, with a small amount to Archibald, his brother Robert's son.
I. ROBERT was twice married. Hisfirst wife was a Miss Gil- lespie. To them were born six children : 1. James, born Oct. Ist, 1744; was for thirty-five years an elder in the Goodwill church, and a man of prominence in the community. He mar- ried Frances Gallatian, a daughter of James Gallatian, one of the original patentees. Among their descendants are Charles F. Hunter and family of New York.
2. William, born March 6th, 1746; married Peggy Beatty, a daughter of Arthur Beatty.
3. David, born April 11th, 1748 ; married Margaret Hill. Among their descendants are said to be John L. Sloat of New- burgh, and Capt. Joel D. Hunter of New York.
4. Matthew, born January 26th, 1750; married Ann Crist. Abram Hunter of Newburgh and David Belknap of Washing- tonville are among their descendants.
5. Lilly, born January 25th, 1753: married (1) James Hun- ter, (2) James W. Graham (see James Hunter (2) and Elder Graham).
6. Robert, born Nov. 5th, 1755.
[The marriage of Robert Hunter and Sarah Miller, dated March 27th, 1770, appears in the church register ; also, the baptism of Easter, daughter of Robert Hunter dated April 19th, 1772. Neither of these seems to find a place in connec- tion with the other Robert Hunters. If they belong here he must have been married before he was fifteen years of age. But as early marriages as this have
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GOODWILL CHURCH.
occurred. It may also be noted that in 1775 Robert Hunter, Jr., was commissioned Lieutenant in Capt. Gillespie's company of militia, that he was taken prisoner at Fort Montgomery in 1777, and was still a prisoner in 1781.]
Robert Hunter's second wife was Ann Neely. To them. were born ten children :
I. John, born Feb. 7th, 1761 ; died March 31st, 1789, unmar- ried, at least such is the inference from his will.
2. Stephen, born June 22d, 1762 ; died Nov. 8th, 1828, pro- bably unmarried.
3. Jane, born April 2d, 1764 ; married George Houston.
4. Archibald, born Oct. 13th, 1765 ; died Jan. 29th, 1790, unmarried.
5. Samuel, born May 31st, 1767; married Elizabeth Trimble, daughter of Alexander Trimble.
6. Elizabeth, born May 16th, 1769; married (1) - Coul- ter ; (2) Joshua Crawford.
7. Joseph, born February 11th, 1771 ; married Jane Hill.
8. Barbara, born Dec. 9th, 1772 ; married Solomon Brink.
9. Martha, born July 15th, 1775; married John Cain.
IO. Catherine, twin sister of Martha, died unmarried.
II. JAMES, married Frances To them were born one daughter, Catherine, and four sons : James, Robert, John, and Matthew.
I. Catherine, born March 11th, 1735-probably the eldest -married Elder Matthew Rhea, son of the first Elder Rhea.
2. James married Lilly Hunter. Their children were James, John and Robert,-with two daughters, Fanny and Betsey, who died young.
3. Robert married Isabella Beatty, a granddaughter of Rev. Joseph Houston. Their children were Elizabeth-Mrs. Caleb Dill ; Thomas, Catherine, James, Frances-Mrs. William Hadden ; Ann- Mrs. James Bell; Matthew, Isabel - Mrs. Robert Hadden ; Robert Clark, M.D.
4. John died unmarried. He devised his property, by will dated 1776, to his sister Catherine's children, to Robert, son of his brother James, and to his brothers Robert, James and Matthew. He died about 1810.
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LIST OF ELDERS.
5. Matthew seems to have died unmarried. He is said to have been killed at the storming of Fort Montgomery in 1777.
PATRICK BARBER.
In consequence of the positions occupied by his sons- especially Francis-in the revolutionary army, there is the material for a more extended notice of Patrick Barber than of those who were his associates in the session. He was born in county Longford, Ireland-the county from which Charles, the father of the Clintons also migrated. His maternal ances- tors were Scotch of the name of Frazer, and he married Jane, the daughter of Francis Frazer, before leaving his native land. Arriving in America in 1749 or 1750, he spent some time in the city of New York, after which he removed to the then small village of Princeton, N. J. He remained in New Jersey till 1764, when he removed to this vicinity. He purchased from Joseph Shuter a farm of some two hundred acres some three miles south of Goodwill church, part of which is still in possession of his descendants. They had at the time one daughter, Margaret, and three sons, Francis, John, and Wil- liam-their first born, Archable, having died in infancy. Three other children were afterwards added to the family, Jane, Samuel, and Joseph, the latter only of whom survived childhood. He married Jane McCob. Margaret married John Davison, and is said to have moved to Kentucky, though her grave is indicated here. Francis remained in New Jersey at school, and afterwards took charge of the Academy at Elizabethtown, the classical department of which under his direction soon became distinguished. "Among others, Alex- ander Hamilton was placed at this school by Gov. Livingston, himself a ripe scholar, whose preference for the school is the best evidence of his confidence in the teacher. Upon the out- break of the revolutionary war, Francis, John, and William, devoted themselves at once to the service of their country. John commanded a company in the New York line, and Fran- cis and William were officers in the New Jersey line." Accord-
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GOODWILL CHURCH.
ing to "The National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Americans," in which his portrait with a sketch of his life may be found, Francis, ranking as Colonel, acted as assistant inspec- tor-general of the army under Baron Steuben and was one of Washington's most trusted officers. He was accidentally killed by the falling of a tree at New Windsor, at the close of the war. "The whole country," says Mr. Eager in his History of Orange County, "from far and near, attended his funeral, and deeply lamented the death of their friend and neighbor, as well as of the gallant soldier.
William married Miss Annie Crook and made his home at Crum Elbow, near Hydepark, on the Hudson, and John returned home.
Patrick Barber, whom, at this distant day, we must read in this record of his sons, rather than in anything else, was himself a public spirited man. In addition to other places of trust to which he was advanced, he was for some time judge of the court of common pleas. When he was ordained an elder in the church we cannot ascertain; but the records indi- cate that it was some years previous to 1770. He died on the 20th of September, 1790, aged seventy years. His wife sur- vived him till the 9th of October, 1795, when she, too, passed to her reward in the seventy-fourth year of her age.
ARTHUR BEATTY.
Arthur Beatty was the son of John Beatty of county Long- ford, Ireland, who started to America with the Clinton com- pany, in 1729, accompanied by his wife and six children. On board the ship were three others of the name,-Chris., James, and Charles Beatty. In the mortality with which the voyage was attended, the father and mother with four of the children died,* leaving of the family only Arthur, and one brother who
* The family tradition in this respect is sustained by Clinton's Journal. Chris. mentioned therein, is manifestly an abbreviation for Christiana (written Christina by Dr. Young. See notice of Arthur Parks). She was a sister of Charles Clin- ton, and at the time was the widow of John Beatty, formerly an officer in the British army.
Charles Beatty was her son, and a "RECORD OF THE FAMILY OF CHARLES
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LIST OF ELDERS.
died unmarried. Arthur at the time could not have been over fifteen years of age. He married Lilly McMichael. He was a weaver by trade, but he seems to have obtained with his wife or by purchase part of the McMichael farm in Little Britain, which long remained in the family. His children were six sons and three daughters.
John, the eldest, married, and his descendants removed in the main to Kentucky, where they attained to some distinc- tion-one of them becoming U. S. senator.
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