USA > New York > Rockland County > The history of Rockland County > Part 28
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this building was sufficiently large for the congregation, but at last, the growth of the ice business so increased the population of Rockland Lake, and thus the church attendance, that further accommodation became necessary. Efforts were successfully put forth to obtain the needed money, and the present edifice was erected and dedicated.
THE SLOATSBURG METHODIST CHURCH.
Johnsontown was one of the first hamlets visited by the Methodist circuit preachers, and in their journeys to and from that place through the Ram- apo Clove, they frequently held service in the old stone school house, which stood on the Orange Turnpike, in the village of Ramapo Works. These services began as early as 1802. At a later period, services were held in the Smith house, and still later, at the house of John Becraft.
In 1837, Jacob Sloat and his wife gave the property on which the church now stands to the society, and the ercction of a house for worship was begun. By 1843, the building was finished, and in the same year it was dedicated. In 1860, this church, which had formerly, with the other churches of the same denomination in the town, belonged to the Newark Conference, became part of the New York Conference. A Sabbath school is connected with the church.
THE METHODIST CHURCH AT NEW CITY.
The early meetings of the Methodists at this place were held for a time in a wheelwright's shop, and later, at a private residence. By 1845, the congregation had grown sufficiently strong to erect a house for wor- ship, and in March, 1846, the building was dedicated. A Sabbath school has been connected with the church since its organization, and at the present time has an average attendance of about five and twenty scholars.
THE PIERMONT M. E. CHURCH.
As seen when speaking of the Palisades M. E. Church, services at Tappan Slote were held by itinerant ministers of this denomination before 1810. The organization of the Society at the present Palisades, drew the members of the faith to that place, and it was not till 1854, that we find positive mention of a distinct Methodist society at Piermont. For some time this organization met for worship in Odd Fellows' Hall. At length the congregation grew strong enough to warrant the erection of a house of worship, and in 1856 the present edifice was built, being ready for use January 10, 1857. This society, as a rule, has been connected with a cir- cuit in which were the church at Palisades and the society at Tappan.
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It has met with the reverse of having its membership largely reduced by the removal of inhabitants from Piermont on the withdrawal of the railroad shops.
THE TAPPAN M. E. CHURCH.
It was not till 1854, that an attempt was made to build up a society of this church at Tappan. Then some of the members and the minister of the Piermont society visited the hamlet and held divine service on Sunday afternoons at the homes of different members of that faith. At length, in 1856, thinking the time opportune, this new-formed church society bought the edifice, which had been built in 1826, for the True Reformed Church Society. Until 1866, the congregation of this church was under the charge, first of the minister of the Piermont church, and later of Piermont and Palisades. Then the edifice was purchased by the congregation of the German M. E. Church Society.
THE GERMAN M. E. CHURCH AT TAPPAN.
This society was incorporated by Christian Kern on July 25th, 1866, and purchased the edifice then owned by the M. E. Church Society. Since that time the society has continued in existence, and has met with varying success, never being very strong.
THE METHODIST CHURCH AT VIOLA.
When speaking of the Wesley Chapel, it was mentioned that a split occurred in the congregation of that society, and that a portion, who favored the building of a new church withdrew to Mechanicsville and organized a separate society in 1856. Proceeding at once to carry out their idea, the construction of a church edifice was begun and the building was completed, and on December 25th, 1856, dedicated by Bishop Wiley. Since that time services have been regularly maintained.
THE SPRING VALLEY M. E. CHURCH.
The birth of this village is of such recent date as to preclude a long existence for any church organization. It was not till 1853, that a thorough effort was made to hold divine service at the nascent hamlet ac- cording to the doctrines of the M. E. Church. In the summer of that year Rev. George Jackson, then in charge of the New City Church, be- gan holding church services in the Union Sunday School building, which had been erected in 1852.
On August 4th, 1859, a church society was organized, and at the same time the present site was bought from the Spring Valley Land Associa-
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tion. Work was at once begun upon a church building, and in the spring of 1860, the completed edifice was dedicated. At first this society was connected with that at Mechanicsville-now Viola-but in 1861, it began a separate existence, unbroken, save by an association of two years with the Middletown Church. A Sunday School early organized is now in a strong condition.
THE METHODIST CHURCH AT LADENTOWN.
At just what date ministers of the Methodist Church first began to hold religious services at Ladentown, has escaped my search, but by 1825, this locality was included in their circuits. It was many years ere a per- manent society strong enough to erect a church building could be formed. At last however, in 1865, a house for worship was built on land given for the purpose by John J. Secor, and the church society incorporated. No idea can be formed of the great work this church has accomplished, by the size of the present membership. For years it has been laboring to spread religious teachings among the residents in the Ladentown Moun- tains with results both encouraging and gratifying. A Sunday School, now connected with the church, was organized in 1862.
THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH AT MIDDLETOWN.
This church society was organized by the Rev. Nicholas Vansant, the then Presiding Elder of the district, June 25th, 1865. For the first year, after its organization, the services of the society were held in the building belonging to the Independent Baptist Church Society. In 1866, the con- gregation failed to obtain a renewal of their lease, and from May, till the middle of November, services were held in L. A. Leache's barn. In No- vember the society leased the old Baptist church building, and in the fol- lowing year, 1867, purchased it. Since that date, services have been regu- larly held in the church, and the society has slowly increased in numbers. A Sabbath School was organized in connection with the church in 1866.
THE SUFFERN M. E. CHURCH.
This church society was organized October 28th, 1867, through the efforts of Rev. A. H. Brown of the church at Viola. Services were at first held in the house of James Norris, which formed part of the store occu- pied by A. Traphagen, and later, in the school house of District No. 3. In 1868, a site for a building was obtained by purchase from William D. Maltbie and wife, and in July 1869, work upon the present edifice was begun. On September 11th, 1870, the completed building was dedicated
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and by January 1884, through the persistent efforts of Rev. A. J. Conklin, the church was cleared of debt.
At first this society was associated with the church at Viola in the support of a minister, later with the church at Monsey, and later still with Wesley Chapel and Ladentown. In 1884, however, it became a separate station. A Sunday School, organized in the early days of the church still exists.
THE METIIODIST CHURCH AT MONSEY.
This society was organized in October 1871, by members from the Spring Valley and Viola Methodist Churches. Services were first held at the house of J. J. Hogan, and afterward, till the building of a house for worship, in the loft of a blacksmith shop. Work upon a church edifice was at once begun, a site having been donated by H. P. Dexter and wife, and in July 1873, the completed building was dedicated. This church is at present associated with those of Saddle River and Mount Vail. A Sun- day School was organized shortly after the formation of the society. It is now a part of the union school hield in the village.
THE M. E. CHURCHI AT THIELL'S.
This society was formed and a house for worship erected before 1850. At first the pulpit was supplied in conjunction with that at Stony Point, which was then known as the North Haverstraw Church. In 1872, this union was dissolved and the church at Thiell's, which was then officially known as the West Haverstraw Church, was joined to that at Garnervillc. In 1872, the parsonage at Thiell's was built.
THE M. E. CHURCH AT STAGG'S CORNERS.
This building was erected about 1865, and has since been regularly open for service. It is a circuit church, A strong Sabbath school has long been in existence in this neigborhood.
THE MOUNTVILLE M. E. CHURCH.
As we have seen when speaking of the Presbyterian Societies, John Beverige donated the edifice he had erected at this spot to the mountain residents, who used the building as a Methodist Church. Service is reg- ularly held at this place on Sunday afternoons by the minister, who sup- plies the Johnsontown and Caldwell Point Societies.
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THE M. E. CHURCH AT GARNERVILLE.
This society was organized at a meeting held in the school house at Mead's Corners, June 10th, 1872. The corner stone of the church edifice was laid September 8th, 1872, and the completed structure was dedicated June 27th, 1873. It is the only church building now standing in Gar- nerville, and is but a short distance from the site of the first church build- ing north of the mountain.
THE M. E. CHURCH AT CALDWELL'S POINT.
This tiny chapel was erected by the Methodists of this neighborhood in 1883 It stands beside the Episcopal chapel, almost at the end of the Point, and under the very shadow of Donderberg. It is a circuit church, being supplied with Johnsontown and Doodletown.
THE METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH AT HAVERSTRAW.
As is too often the case in church as well as other societies, trouble arose between the members of the M. E. Society at Haverstraw and led to schism.
Under the circumstances, it was felt that the congregation of the church could no longer abide in harmony, and a portion of it seceded, formed a separate organization under the name of the Associated Method- ist Church, on June 15th, 1831, and began efforts to obtain a house for worship.
A lot was purchased from Samson Marks and wife, and a church building erected in 1831. On September 20th in that year, this society was formally incorporated. The organization was never one of great strength, and when, under the soothing influence of time, the causes which had led to irritation and schism had been removed, the society gradually passed from existence, and on November 26th, 1867, the build- ing and lot were sold to the German Evangelical Church.
THE METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH AT TOMKINS COVE.
For some years, preceding the stationing of the first clergyman of this branch of the Methodist church at Tomkins' Cove, this section of the County had been in a circuit, and preaching had been held at the Cove once in every month. In March, 1841, Rev. T. K. Witsel was stationed at Tomkins' Cove and services were held in a building furnished by the Lime Company. In 1853, a lot of land was given by Calvin Tomkins & Company as a site for the church buildings of the Methodist Protestant Society, and on this the erection of a house for worship was begun, at the
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instigation of Calvin Tomkins through whose aid it was finished, which was dedicated in 1854. This society has maintained a strong existence, and at the present time has a large membership.
THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN ROCKLAND COUNTY.
In 1832, John Dubois, Bishop of the French Roman Catholic Church in New York, bought of the heirs of William Perry, the property extend- ing between the present south line of Joseph Hilton, the north line of Mrs. Nellie Hart, the Hudson River and the top of the mountain, and now owned by A. J. Smith, George Green, Rudolph Lexow, Owen and Dra- per and the heirs of Joshua Brush, containing in all 162 acres ; for the pur- pose of erecting thereon a seminary building for the education of priests and a church for the propagation of his faith.
With the power of hind-sight, it is easy for us to see how ill-timed this movement was, nor would it have been difficult for the worthy Bishop to have discerned the feeling he would create, had he been at all conver- sant with our County's history. If that history shows any one thing more than another, it is, that up to within a few years our people have been un- usually conservative. Children of neighbors have grown up, have inter- married, have settled down in business in the County, through generation after generation, till the genealogist will find almost all the old family names interwoven by ties of relationship. Our educational facilities, good or bad, have not been embraced as they should have been ; opinion, formed on a narrow knowledge of the subject under question, has prevented re- search; tradition has been all prevalent as historical truth.
He who has read thus far will recall that the first settlers were Dutch- men, with whom were associated a few Huguenots, who, escaping the per- secution which followed the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, by flight into Holland, had joined their protectors in the immigration to the new world. What the people of Holland had suffered, for the sake of their religious belief, is known to all readers. In the close communion of neigh- borhood and marriage in this new home, the experience that too many of the immigrants had passed through was still fresh in their minds. Tales of homes abandoned in the night. Of secret flight from the lands, long family possessions, to the charity of strangers. Of sudden change from affluence to poverty, from a position of hospitality to wandering vagrants. And these things, not because of civil or moral crime, but because of a demand to use that mind with which God had endowed them, as they saw fit.
Through generation after generation these family traditions had been
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transmitted until the descendants of the original sufferers grew to look upon the Roman Catholic Church as the abomination of abominations, the veritable Scarlet Woman ; upon the Pope as Anti-Christ. Nor was this all. In the center of the County dwelt the offspring of the English and Scotch settlers, who had founded the " English Church." Of the former, a majority were descendants of those stern Puritans, who had landed on the inhospitable shores of Massachusetts, whose children had migrated to Connecticut, and whose grand-children had crossed to Long Island, from whence, in due course of time, their progeny had come to our County. Of the latter, a majority were fresh from vivid tales of the multiple con- flicts of sects, which so long agitated and annoyed their native land. Much as the stern Puritan and Scot might despise all religious beliefs, ex- cept his own, he could still tolerate their presence. But the Church of Rome he hated beyond conception, and, while that hatred may have grown less in his children, it was by no means banished. It was in such a field that Bishop Dubois, in 1832, began the endeavor to establish his church.
But this was not the only error in his judgment in this matter. He had based his idea of the need of a church in the County on the rapid development of the quarry business at Nyack and the consequent influx of laborers to the place. Here, also, he was at fault. The proprietors of the quarries were opposed to the Roman Catholic belief, and many of them were members of the Protestant societies then existing in the village. The majority of laborers were natives, who, if they belonged to no denomina- tion, dreaded the entering church and sided against it. And, as if to make matters worse, the Methodist congregation had their place of wor- ship but a short distance from the proposed new school.
Despite these conditions, the Bishop began his labor. In the fall of 1832 his purchase was completed and the following year ground was broken and work upon the seminary building begun, with a Mr. McCool as the master mason and Mr. Marsh the contracting carpenter. Both of these gentlemen were from Newburgh. At first the supervision of this work was in charge of Father McGeary, but ere the building was com- pleted, he was superceded by Father Marshall.
From a map of the property drawn for "Milord, the Bishop of the Church French at New York, October, 1832," I learn that on the property now owned by George Green, in Upper Nyack, stood an old house with farm outbuildings, and in this house, which stood north of Green's present residence and nearer Broadway, was held the first church service of the Roman Catholic Society ever performed in our County. In this house,
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also, was opened a school under the auspices of the pastor in charge of the parish. That pastor was Hugh McCloskey; later, first Cardinal of the Church in America.
For five years, work on the seminary building was continued, and in 1838, there stood upon a site still marked by the ruins, midway between the present Midland Avenue and Broadway, just south of Lexow Avenue, on the property of George Green, a three-story brown stone structure, eighty feet long, and forty feet deep, composed of a central building and two wings, with vaulted slate roof. The stone for this structure had been obtained from a quarry on the property, the lumber bought from a firm of which the present owner of the property was a member. When the building had approached thus near completion, and it but remained to finish and fit the joinery, a fire broke out in the south wing, and the building was totally destroyed.
So bitter had been the feeling against this institution, and so apparent was the joy of the residents at this termination of the work-it is said that cheers were heard when the roof fell in -- that every excuse can be found for the belief, which obtained at the time among the members of this church, that the fire was of incendiary origin. In 1878, I had occasion to thoroughly investigate the matter, and in the intervening years have con- sulted many people, both Protestants and Catholics, who were either en- gaged in the work, in one or other capacity, or present at the fire. The account I gave in 1878, has been thoroughly corroborated, and I repeat it verbatim. One day at noon, one of the mechanics had taken the inside box out of his glue pot and was boiling eggs for his dinner in the shell pot ; he had started a fire in one of the rooms of the south wing ; over the floor of this room was a litter of shavings from six inches to a foot in depth, and piled against the wall were a number of doors and window sashes ; for some reason the mechanic left the room for a few moments ; upon his return he found that the fire had spread and was rapidly running through the mass of dry shavings. Without calling for help he seized one of the doors lying on the pile and threw it on the fire, intending to smother it. As might be imagined, the effect was disasterous, for the cur- rent of air caused by the falling door scattered the burning shavings all over the room ; in an instant more, the whole room was ablaze, and before help could arrive the building was doomed.
After the fire the walls of the building were found cracked and warped, and the expense of reconstruction, together with the bitter feeling against the sect, led Bishop Dubois to decline to rebuild. The walls were taken down and the stones removed to Brooklyn, but I cannot learn that they were ever used in any other church institution.
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Thus ended all attempts to organize a society of the Roman Catholic Church in our County for a decade, and twenty-nine years passed before the service of that faith was again held in a church edifice at Nyack.
THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH AT HAVERSTRAW-ST. PETERS.
In 1843, an old stone house, standing on the road north of the first Presbyterian Church, and formerly belonging to Joseph Allison, was occu- pied by Patrick Riley, and in it was celebrated the first mass in Haver- straw. Father Volamus was the first priest who officiated. Until the opening of their own church for service on Sunday, November 14th, 1847, the Catholics at Haverstraw attended service at Verplanck's Point. At length, when strong enough, four lots situated on the west side of Ridge street, were purchased from George S. Allison, and the crection of a church building was begun. In 1849, the completed structure was dedi- cated by Bishop Hughes.
This first structure was used by its congregation till the increased demands made by the rapidly enlarging church attendance led to the erection of the present church edifice. The parish was at first under the charge of Father Hacket, who officiated at Verplanck's Point, and after him for a short time came Father Maguire. The first settled pastor was Rev. Francis MeKeone, who was given spiritual charge of all the Catholics in the County in 1848, and remained pastor of this church till 1852. Fol- lowing him have been : Rev. Terence Scullen ; Rev. Patrick Mahony, who served a long pastorate of three or four and twenty years, and the present incumbent, Rev. Henry T. Baxter.
THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH AT PIERMONT-ST. JOHNS.
Through the efforts of Father MeKeone, a congregation of this denom- ination was gathered at Piermont, which met at the present Odd Fellows' Hall. Attention was at once given to the erection of a church edifice, and land was obtained on the north side of the creek, nearly opposite the present church building of the Reformed (Dutch) Church Society. Work was begun on the structure in the summer of 1851, and on January Ist, 1852, the first mass was celebrated in the new building.
On July Ist, 1852, Rev. John Quinn was appointed pastor of Pier- mont, then created a separate parish, which included beside the Catholics of Piermont, those of the rest of the County, south of Haverstraw. For nine years, this church building proved sufficient to meet the wants of its congregation. But the distance from Nyack made it a labor for mem- bers of the congregation there resident, to attend service, and the increase
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of church members, brought about by the location of the Erie Railroad shops at this spot necessitated the erection of a larger building. Accordingly, with an eye to the needs of the members from Nyack as well as Pier- mont, the site of the present edifice was purchased, and the work of con- struction was begun in 1860. When the building was raised and ready for the roof, a terrific storm fell upon this section, and the walls of the structure were almost completely demolished.
In spite of this depressing blow, the courage of the congregation was not lost. Work was resumed upon the building, and on August 13th, 1861, mass was celebrated in the new house. In 1859, the present parochial school was built for the care of the children of the congregation. For twenty-three and a half years did Father Quinn labor among this people, and under his pastorate and through his efforts were the churches at Nyack, Suffern and Spring Valley organized and built, and that at Blauveltville aided. On December 24th, 1875, this worthy priest died. His successor was Rev. William L. Penny, who remained pastor of the church till 1885. Among the assistant priests of the parish have been : Rev. Christopher Farrell, Rev. John Fitzharris, Rev. Henry J. Gordon, and, at present, Rev. Patrick J. O'Meara.
CHURCHI OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION.
The rapid development of the brick industry along the river shore north to Caldwell's Point, drew to the present township of Stony Point many members of the Roman Catholic Church. For their accommodation a church edifice was determined on and that of the Immaculate Concep- tion near Tompkins cove-at the former Blauvelt's Four Corners- was built in 1860 and consecrated two years later. Until June 1885, this church was under the pastoral charge of Rev. Henry Baxter, then it was made a separate parish under the care of Rev. Joseph Brennan.
About 1865, the Roman Catholics bought property for a church build- ing at Rockland Lake. As yet this congregation has not grown strong enough to build. It is under the pastoral care of Rev. Henry Baxter, and the rites of the church are administered once a month at the residence of Timothy McClafferty.
THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH AT NYACK-ST. ANNS.
The long and often unpleasant trips which they had to make, if they wished to attend service, had led to many complaints by the Catholics at Nyack, and it was to relieve them, as we have seen, that the new church at Piermont was built so far north. But by 1867, when their number
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had increased, the Nyack congregation felt the necessity of a house for worship in their village.
For two years before the erection of a church building, this congrega- tion met for worship in a building, which stood on the corner of Main and Orchard Streets. At length, the site of the present edifice on Jeffer- son street was purchased, and work upon the church was begun in 1869. The building was completed and opened the same year. Since its com- pletion the church has had added to it. a gallery, a new vestry room, and a new altar. It is now a separate parish under the charge of Rev. William L. Penny.
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