USA > New York > The centennial history of the Protestant Episcopal church in the diocese of New York, 1785-1885 > Part 34
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" In the second place, our society was to be guarded in be- coming a party to this plan, lest we should be compromising our own position as trustees, acting freely in our own legiti- mate sphere of 'Promoting Religion and Learning.' With
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this view the society has been kept wholly free from all finan- cial obligations, while at the same time an intimate relation with, and knowledge of, the operations of the school is pro- vided for, by having two leading officers of our Board ex offi- cio members in the new Board of Trustees. All aid, there- fore, granted from our treasury will be, as heretofore, regu- lated by the number of our scholars therein educated, with the further advantage, which heretofore we have not had with our scattered scholars, that the instruction they receive is sound and Churchlike; their conduct irreproachable; and consequently the bounty of the society well bestowed.
" The third party in the proposed plan was obviously the founder of the endowment, Mr. Bard, the originator and the most liberal patron of the school. On this rare example of the noblest employment of wealth it is not needful here to pass a eulogium. It will, we trust, have its due reward in the success that will attend it-of which success the sanction now sought of our Board will, we think, be a sufficient guar- antee. The only conditions named by Mr. Bard are such as evince more deeply the spirit that has dictated the gift, and will be found in their operation to add to its practical as well as spiritual value ; being first that the present school-house on the grounds shall be retained in its present use as a parochial school, under the government, however, of the warden of the school ; and, secondly, beyond the needs of the professors and scholars of the training school, all sittings in the church shall be forever free."
The offer of Mr. Bard referred to in the report was the transfer to the Trustees of St. Stephen's College of about fif- teen acres of land. the Church of the Holy Innocents, and one annual subscription of " one thousand dollars during his life and ability."
This record of the origin of St. Stephen's College will be complete by giving the following resolution offered by the Rev. Joseph H. Price, D.D., and adopted by the society :
" Resolved, That this Board having completed the formal approval asked for by the generous donor, desire now in their own name, and as far as is becoming in the name of the
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Church in this diocese and elsewhere, to record their pro- found sense of obligation to God, from whom all holy desires, good counsels, and just works proceed, for that blessed influ- ence under which this benevolent enterprise has been devised and carried out, and also their sincere thanks to him who has not been unmindful of the heavenly suggestion, but has con- secrated to the glory of God and the good of man, that wealth of which Divine Providence has made him steward, and has thus shown most honorably to himself and profitably to the Church, the influence of that Church training he is so anxious to extend to others."
The next step was to obtain a charter from the legisla- ture. The Hon. John V. L. Pruyn, LL.D., who soon after became the distinguished and efficient Chancellor of the University of the State of New York, was enlisted in the work, and through his influence and personal application an act of incorporation was obtained, which was dated March 20, 1860. It declared "the Trustees of St. Stephen's Col- lege " to be a body corporate " for the general object and purpose of establishing, conducting and maintaining a semi- nary of learning in Red Hook, Dutchess County, which shall be a training college for the education and Christian training of young men who design to enter the sacred ministry of the Protestant Episcopal Church." The charter affords all the safeguards for the special work which the Church could ask, and also grants full collegiate powers and privileges. The first trustees named in the charter were: the Rt. Rev. Horatio Potter, D.D., LL.D., D.C.L., Oxon., the Hon. John V. L. Pruyn, LL.D., the Rev. John McVickar, D.D., the Rev. C. S. Henry, D.D., the Rev. John Ireland Tucker, D.D., the Rev. Samuel Buel, M.A., the Rev. George F. Seymour, M.A., the Hon. Murray Hoffman, LL.D., Walter Langdon, James F. De Peyster, John L. Aspinwall, John Bard, Mrs. Margaret Johnston Bard, William A. Davies, Homer Ramsdell, and Henry W. Sargent.
The trustees organized under the charter April II, 1860, by declaring the bishop visitor, the Hon. John V. L. Pruyn, chairman, and the Rev. George F. Seymour, M.A., warden,
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by which title the head of the college was to be known. The trustees did not adopt any plan of study or of discipline, but left both to be developed by the wants and growth of the college. Their only active measure was the provision for the erection of a college building.
The college, therefore, in 1860, was organized and pre- pared to do the work which had been named to the Con- vention of the diocese; but the college was without build- ings, without dormitories, without recitation-rooms, without apparatus, and without library. There were twelve young men, however, who had entered and sixty others had applied for entrance. The warden, with the assistance of the Rev. George W. Dean, M.A., and afterwards of Rev. Charles Bab- cock, M.A., undertook the preparation of these twelve men for entrance into the General Theological Seminary.
A course of study was not adopted until the beginning of the academic year 1862, when the warden, the Rev. Thomas Richey, presented and published one in the first catalogue. This course, revised and enlarged, was presented by the next warden, the Rev. R. B. Fairbairn, to the trustees in 1864, which was adopted and has continued as the curriculum for the past twenty-two years.
It was soon found that young lads of fifteen, as the bishop of the diocese had said, would join us. It was very obvious what intellectual training such persons needed to enter on the study of theology in a divinity school. They were to be trained in such a course of study as would develop and bring into operation all the faculties of the mind. The taste was to be cultivated. They were to be taught how to study. They were to be made acquainted with the functions of their own minds. There was nothing new to be presented in this respect. They were to be instructed in Latin and in Greek, which they ought to be able to read with accuracy and with some degree of facility. They should be trained in the realm of quantity so far as to give the power of discernment and accuracy and to cultivate the capacity of attention. Rhetoric and logic were to hold an important place, as they were to come into contact with men in order to instruct and convince
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and persuade them. An accurate study of the English lan- guage and literature was for the same reason a necessity. They would require a knowledge of the functions of the human mind as intellect, and feeling, and willing, and there- fore they were to be instructed and trained in moral philos- ophy and in intellectual philosophy.
The course of study therefore embraced the course which leads to a bachelor's degree. As there was only to be one class of students there would be necessary only one course of study. In our large colleges and in the University of Oxford there are several courses, all leading to the same degree. In Oxford a person may choose one of seven. But this was not required in the Diocesan Training School ; one was all that was neces- sary. But the course of classics and philosophy which was adopted was as full as one of the seven courses in colleges and older institutions. This course now embraces the usual books in Latin and Greek which are read for a degree, and the ordinary mathematics and natural philosophy, and a more extensive drilling in logic, and mental and moral sci- ence.
In 1866 the charter was amended so as to give to the col- lege the power of conferring degrees in the arts. It had already the power of giving degrees in divinity, which it was not teaching. This brought the college under the visitation of the Regents of the University, and made it one of the con- federated colleges which constitute "The University of the State of New York." The effect of this relation to the Regents of the University is to bring the college in its in- struction up to the standard of the colleges of the State. The number of instructors is that which is usual in the most im- portant colleges of the country, which is an average of one to ten students. .
The next important step was to provide accommodations for the students. The first building was not begun until 1861. The ceremony was conducted by the first warden, Rev. G. F. Seymour, who removed the first shovel of earth, accompanied with proper religious services. This building was occupied at Christmas, 1861, after the Rev. Thomas Richey had be-
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come the second warden. The building is of brick and will accommodate thirty students.
In 1866 Miss Elizabeth Ludlow and her sister, Mrs. Cor- nelia Ann Willink, proposed to build a suitable residence for the warden, on condition that they were allowed to select their architect and their own builders. The corner-stone was laid the 13th of June, 1866, the birthday of Mrs. Willink. The Rev. Francis Vinton, D.D., officiated at their request. He and the Rev. S. R. Johnson, D.D., Professor in the General Theological Seminary, and the warden delivered addresses. The building is of stone, and was completed and occupied by the then warden on the 18th of February, 1870.
The number of applicants was so large in 1868 that further accommodation had to be provided. A temporary building of wood was erected in the summer of that year and was occupied by thirty students on the Ist of October.
A capacious dining-hall was erected in the summer of 1873 with money left by will by Betsey Preston, of Barrytown. The first dinner was served at the commencement of that year to nearly 200 persons-the bishop, trustees, professors and students, and invited guests.
In 1875 an observatory for the reception of a reflecting telescope of twelve feet focal length was erected. The tele- scope was left to the college by John Campbell, of New York, who had been a trustee and a contributor to the college.
In 1882 the trustees adopted a new and more extensive plan of building. Two sections, containing accommodations for twenty-four students, were erected in 1884, and were opened with a service of benediction by the Rt. Rev. Henry C. Potter, D.D., LL.D., the assistant Bishop of the diocese, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the consecration of the chapel. This is a substantial building of stone with three rooms for two students.
The chapel was erected by Mr. John Bard, and was conse- crated on the 2d of February, 1860, by the Rt. Rev. Horatio Potter, D.D., LL.D., D.C.L., Oxon. This church was erected during the rectorship of the Rev. G. F. Seymour, who after the organization of the college became the first warden.
The parish school-house was also the gift of Mr. John
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Bard, which is used as a hall for declamations and reading, and for public lectures, and on Sunday for a Sunday-school for the children of the neighborhood.
The library contains about 4,700 volumes, half of which number was given by Mr. John Bard. Large contributions have been made by the Hon. J. V. L. Pruyn, the Rev. John W. Moore, the Rev. J. Breckenridge Gibson, D.D., and by the Society for Promoting Religion and Learning.
The beginning of a collection of philosophical apparatus was given by the Hon. J. V. L. Pruyn, as much as will illustrate the text-books used in the college.
As the college is a training school for the ministry, religious and moral culture was the first thing thought of and provided for. The college chapel, of course, is the center of all religious influences and teaching. The corner-stone of the chapel was laid June 16, 1857, by the Rt. Rev. Horatio Potter, D.D., the address having been delivered by the Rev. Ben- jamin I. Haight, D.D. The church was built as a parish church under the rectorship of the Rev. G. F. Seymour. It was nearly completed and ready for use, when, on St. John's Day, 1855, it was destroyed by fire. The rebuilding was not begun until progress was made in the establishment of the college. Work was resumed in May, 1859, under the direc- tion of Mr. Charles Babcock, who had been of the firm of R. Upjohn & Co., and who was now a candidate for orders and assisting the rector in the educational work which he had undertaken. Mr. Babcock was ordained in the college chapel on the 4th of March, 1860. He was the first Professor of Mathematics. He resigned in September, 1862, and is now the Professor of Architecture in Cornell University. The church was completed and consecrated by the Rt. Rev. Horatio Potter, D.D., February 2, 1860, with the name of the Holy Innocents. It is the college chapel with seats reserved for the college and the families of the professors. It is open free to the neighborhood as a parish church. The chapel was the gift of Mr. John Bard.
It was announced on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the college, that the value of the building, and land, and the
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furniture and apparatus, was about $175,000. As the col- lege is yet without endowment, it is sustained by the con- tributions of Churchmen. Among the most liberal contrib- utors have been the Society for the Promotion of Religion and Learning, Mr. John Bard, Mr. John L. Aspinwall, Mrs. Aspinwall, Mr. William H. Aspinwall, Mr. Cyrus Curtis, the Rev. G. F. Seymour, the Rt. Rev. H. C. Potter, D.D., Hon. John V. L. Pruyn, LL.D., the Rev. J. Ireland Tucker, D.D., the Rev. H. C. Potter, D.D., Mr. Cornelius Vanderbilt, Col. S. V. L. Cruger, the Rev. C. F. Hoffman, D.D., and numerous others.
The first warden was the Rev. G. F. Seymour, now the Rt. Rev. G. F. Seymour, D.D., LL.D., the Bishop of Spring- field, who was also Professor of Ecclesiastical History in the General Theological Seminary as well as dean of that insti- tution. The second warden was the Rev. Thomas Richey, D.D., who was afterwards the Professor of Ecclesiastical History in the Seabury Divinity School, and is now the Pro- fessor in that department in the General Theological Seminary. The third warden, the Rev. Robert B. Fairbairn, D. D., LL.D., came to the college as Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy on October 23, 1862, and was appointed to the wardenship on September 30, 1863. He is the author of a volume of College Sermons. The Rev. G. B. Hopson, M.A., was appointed the Professor of Latin on October 5, 1863. He stills holds this professorship. The Rev. Andrew Oliver, D.D., was appointed the Professor of Greek and Hebrew October, 1864. He resigned in September, 1873, when he accepted the appointment to the Professorship of Biblical Learning and Interpretation of Scripture in the General Theological Seminary. He is the author of a trans- lation of the Syriac Psalter. The Rev. Charles T. Olmsted, M.A., was appointed the Professor of Mathematics, July 12, 1866, which he resigned in October, 1868, to accept an appointment of assistant minister in Trinity Church, New York. The Rev. Isaac Van Winkle was appointed the Pro- fessor of Mathematics in July, 1869, and was succeeded by the Rev. William W. Olssen, D.D., who was transferred to
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the Professorship of Greek and Hebrew in 1873. He is the author of Personality, etc., and of Revelation, Universal and Special. The Rev. L. L. Noble, M.A., was appointed the Professor of English and History in 1874. He was the author of the Life of Cole, the Artist ; of a volume of Poems ; and of a Voyage to the Arctic Seas in search of Icebergs, with Church, the Artist. He died in 1882.
James Stryker, a graduate of the college in 1869, was appointed tutor, and afterwards Assistant Professor of Greek, and has been the Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy since 1873. Charles N. Foster, an A.B. of 1869, was tutor and afterwards Professor of English and History. He afterwards graduated M.D. at the Louisville Medical School, and is now a practicing physician.
The following graduates have also been tutors : The Rev. Arthur C. Kimber, A.M., B.D., John S. Moody, B.A., the Rev. Scott B. Rathbun, B.A., S.T.B., James H. Smith, B.A., and the Rev. F. E. Shober, M.A.
Of the persons who have graduated B.A., or have received part of their classical education at Annandale, 165 are now in Holy Orders. The number of students has been limited by the accommodations or the number of scholarships, which have been liberally supplied by the Society for Promoting Re- ligion and Learning. There are now nearly seventy students in attendance, besides twenty or more pursuing their theo- logical studies at the General Theological Seminary and other divinity schools.
THE PAROCHIAL FUND OF THE DIOCESE OF NEW YORK. 1860.
The trustees of the Parochial Fund of the Diocese of New York were incorporated by an act of the Legislature of the State of New York, passed April 15, 1860, and amended April 22, 1867. The design of the institution was to procure the establishment of a large endowment, the income of which should be available for use in the relief of clergymen, serving in the Diocese of New York with stipends too scanty for sup- port. It was proposed that this relief should take the form
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either of addition to income or of contribution towards the erection of parsonages and purchase of glebes. Besides the accomplishment of these benefits, with such funds as might be committed to the corporation for use according to its dis- cretion, it was proposed, as a main object of the organization, that it should act as trustee for the care of such funds as might be given to it in special trust for particular parishes, and thus be able to afford to those who might desire to pro- vide a permanent endowment for the benefit of a parish the means of doing so without the risks attendant upon the entrusting of funds to the charge of so irresponsible a body as in many cases the vestry of a parish is.
The foundation of this work is due chiefly to the Hon. John Jay, with whom were associated as original incorporators, Hon. Murray Hoffman, Hon. Luther Bradish, John R. Liv- ingston, Esq., Hon. John A. Dix, and James F. DePeyster, Esq. To the eminent legal ability and experience of those who founded and organized this institution is to be attributed its establishment on a basis calculated to attain for it the most extended usefulness and the greatest security for the due discharge of its trusts.
The trustees by their charter are entitled to receive and hold gifts, bequests, and devises, for the creation and accumu- lation of a fund, the annual income of which shall not exceed $30,000. It is much to be regretted that the interest of the Church in this institution has not as yet led to the establish- ment of such a fund as the needs of many clergy in the diocese require. The most notable accession to its capital has come from the will of the late Commodore Graham, who bequeathed to it the sum of $30,000, the income of which was directed to be appropriated, as far as it would go, to the bene- fit of clergy of the diocese whose salaries did not exceed $500 per annum. At the last report the fund amounted to about $67,000, the greater part of which, however, is limited as to distribution of income by special directions of the donors. The trustees are six laymen, with the bishop, ex officio. The six lay trustees are elected by the Convention of the diocese, two in each year, to hold office for three years, and, in ac-
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cordance with the charter, the trustees report annually to the Convention of the diocese and to the Comptroller of the State. The present members of the corporation, besides the acting bishop of the diocese, are the Hon. John Jay, president, Mr. William Alexander Smith, treasurer, and Messrs. Carlisle Norwood, George R. Schiefflin, Charles A. Landon, and Cornelius Vanderbilt.
THE SANDS FUND. 1863.
The trustees of the Sands Fund were incorporated by an act of the Legislature of New York, March 25, 1863. The fund was created by will of the late Abraham B. Sands, and the incorporation was obtained by the secretary and the treasurer of the Convention and the treasurer of the Episcopal Fund. The fund now (1885) amounts to $3,000, the interest of which is paid annually to the bishop of the diocese for the benefit of clergymen.
THE SHELTERING ARMS. 1864.
This institution was founded and incorporated in October, 1864. The articles of incorporation were signed by William K. Kitchen, William Alexander Smith, J. Punnett, F. L. Win- ston, and D. T. Brown. The object had in view was and is "the establishing, founding, carrying on, and managing an asylum for the reception of children in need of a home." The Sheltering Arms owns twenty-seven lots in one parcel on the Tenth Avenue, 129th Street, Broadway, and Lawrence Street, and has a lease for 999 years of 104 acres of land at Mount Minturn in Westchester County. On the first-named piece of land are eight cottages. Under one roof are five cottages, four for families of children and one for the central purposes of the charity. Three of them bear the names of the donors of the money with which they were built, viz .: Mr. John D. Wolfe, Mrs. Peter Cooper, and Mrs. Mary E. C. Van Horne. The Little May Cottage, a separate and detached house for twenty girls, was built and permanently endowed by Mrs. John Carey, Jr., as a memorial of her daughter, Mary Alida Astor Carey. The sumof $50,000 was donated to the trustees for this
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purpose. The Furniss Cottage, also detached, for 40 boys, is dedicated in memory of Mrs. William P. Furniss, who, in her lifetime, presented $5,000 for the erection of a cottage. To this sum, her daughter, Miss S. C. R. Furniss, added $21,250.17 to erect and furnish the present large and beautiful cottage. The same liberal giver has set apart $10,000 as an endowment fund. The eighth cottage, of wood, on Lawrence Street, was bought with the property, and is set apart for a hospital, with space for 15 patients. There are in the six cottages intended for distinct families beds for 190 children, four of the cottages being for 120 girls and two for 70 boys. The present en- dowment fund for all purposes is about $95,000, and the property of the institution is entirely free from incumbrance.
THE SISTERHOOD OF ST. MARY. 1865.
The Sisterhood of St. Mary was founded in 1865. On the Feast of the Purification of that year the first sisters, five in number, were professed by the Rt. Rev. Horatio Potter, D.D., in St. Michael's Church, New York. The community now numbers between 80 and 90, but II of these have entered into rest. The "associates " of the community, who are ladies living in their own homes and aiding the sisters in various ways, number about 200.
The sisters are occupied principally in the Diocese of New York, but branch houses have been established in Tennessee and Wisconsin. The order in which the different works were established is : St. Mary's School, New York, in 1868 ; this is a boarding and day school for girls, with accommodations for 30 boarders and 125 day scholars; St. Mary's Hospital for Children, New York, with accommodations for between 70 and 80 children, founded in 1870; St. Gabriel's School, Peek- skill, New York, with accommodations at present for between 50 and 60 boarding pupils, founded in 1872; St. Mary's School, Memphis, Tenn., established in 1873 ; it can accom- modate the same number of pupils as St. Mary's, New York. In 1882 the Sea-side Home at Rockaway was given to the sisters as an adjunct of St. Mary's Hospital for Children.
The sisters also have the exclusive care of the following
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diocesan and parish institutions : the House of Mercy, New York, since 1865; the Church Home, Memphis, Tennessee, since 1873; Kemper Hall, a diocesan school for girls, at Kenosha, Wisconsin, since 1879 ; and in Trinity Parish, New York, Trinity Hospital, Varick Street (since its foundation in 1874), Trinity Mission, State Street, and Trinity Sea-side Home, Islip, Long Island.
THE HOUSE OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD. 1886.
The House of the Good Shepherd was founded in 1866 by the Rev. E. Gay, Jr., and was incorporated in 1870. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about forty miles from New York City, at Tomkins Cove, Rockland County. The special work with which it is charged is the care and education of orphan and destitute children and missionary ser- vice in Rockland County. Its property consists of ninety acres of land rising from the river, on which it borders for about a quarter of a mile. A portion only, some fifteen to twenty acres, has been cleared, and is in grass or under cul- tivation. The land is well watered by a brook and several springs. From the house, one hundred and sixty feet above the river, an extended and attractive view presents itself, and as a home in the country for poor children, taken out of the streets and tenement houses of a large city, it is unrivaled. In its beginning, this charity was small and unimportant. As far back as 1865, several destitute children in Trinity Parish, Haverstraw, were bequeathed to the care of the rector of the . parish. Soon after other children were found to need similar care and support, and several noble-hearted and devoted Church women interested themselves in the effort to meet the necessities of the case. A house was taken, and the children gathered under a sheltering roof, and in the course of five or six years, through gifts and offerings, a family of twenty and more little ones was fed, clothed, and taught. A Board of Managers was incorporated in 1870; kind friends came for- ward to help, and the Legislature of the State was induced to make a liberal appropriation in behalf of the work. By de- grees several buildings, for the uses of the charity, and for
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