USA > New York > Dutchess County > Poughkeepsie > The records of Christ church, Poughkeepsie, New York, Vol I > Part 12
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It was the custom then for the clergy to lay aside the surplice, or sacramental vestment, when entering the pulpit, and to perform their teaching function in the academic gown. Hence, from 1834 to 1854, while this screen was in existence, the children in Christ Church used to watch eagerly for what they considered a delight- ful Jack-in-the-Box performance. The Rector would leave the reading-desk just before the sermon, disappear through the door at the north end of the screen wearing his surplice, and suddenly reappear, in the high pulpit, in his black gown.
The children in Dr. Buel's time, especially, enjoyed this incident, for Dr. Buel was a man of quick, nervous movements, and he seemed to veritably burst through the screen-door into the pulpit. And not only the children were impressed by his motions. The writer has been told, by one who was a young woman in the days of Dr. Buel and the screen, that his angular, sidewise jerk of his shoulders, as he twisted himself through the narrow door at the north end one Sunday soon after his institu- tion as Rector, made her companion whisper to her spontaneously, "We never could call a fat parson!"
One of the first formal occasions in the new Christ Church occurred a month after its consecration, when, on July 3d, 1834, a memorial service for General La Fayette was held. The day was observed in the village by a national salute at sunrise and a single gun half- hourly all day; at ten A.M. a procession formed, under command of General Leonard Maison, its march ending "at the Episcopal Church, where" (says The Poughkeepsie Telegraph, July 9th, 1834) " the solemn funeral service of that Church was pronounced, some appropriate pieces sung by its excellent choir under the management
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of Mr. Benjamin C. Van Vliet, and a most apposite and eloquent address delivered by Robert Wilkinson, Esq. From the time the procession took up its march until its entrance in church, all the bells of the village were tolled, colors were displayed at half mast on the principal hotels and by the vessels at the landings, and the banners and badges of the different societies in the procession were dressed in mourning, and crepe was worn on the left arm by each person."
Again, on May 14th, 1841, when President William Henry Harrison died, Christ Church was the scene of a union memorial service, arranged by a village committee. The Rector was requested to read such portions of the Church liturgy as he thought suitable, Homer Wheaton, Esq., was invited to deliver an oration, and the combined choirs of the village rendered "a Requiem prepared for the occasion," entitled "On the death of General Harri- son. Air-Poughkeepsie."1
The increase in Dr. Reed's congregation, which led to the erection of a new church building in 1834, was par- alleled by the multiplication of Episcopalians in this vicinity in the thirties.
Prior to this, the Protestant Episcopal Church had extended itself very little in Dutchess County, the only existing parishes in 1830, beside our own, being Trinity Church, Fishkill Village; St. Peter's, Lithgow ; St. Paul's, Red Hook (Tivoli); and St. James's, Hyde Park.
After 1809 (when Christ and Trinity Churches ceased to be in the care of the same clergyman), and until 1835, Trinity had a series of short incumbencies, interspersed with long vacancies. The Diocesan Convention, in 1816
1 The Poughkeepsie Journal, May 12th, 1841.
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and 1817, united it with St. Peter's, Peekskill, and St. Philip's, Phillipstown, under the Rev. Petrus Ten Broeck, and, in times of vacancy, the Convention fre- quently commissioned Dr. Reed to supply the congre- gation.
St. Peter's maintained existence, but with small en- couragement, and almost no settled clerical attention.
St. Paul's organized1 in 1816, and was represented in the Diocesan Convention in 1817, but its roots are perhaps traceable farther back, as has been shown in Chapter IV.
Several early parishioners of Christ Church were residents of Hyde Park, notably Judge John Johnston, William Bard, William Broome, Richard De Cantillon and Jacob Bush, and in 1812, they, with other Episco- palians who had settled at Hyde Park, organized2 St. James's Church, which was represented in Convention that same year, and has had continuous and prosperous existence for a century.
Between 1830 and 1840 four new parishes were es- tablished in the county.
In 1833, St. Anna's, Fishkill Landing, organized3 and was represented in Convention, the present St. Luke's, Matteawan, being the same as St. Anna's in all respects, except for a changed name and a new site for the church building.
In 1834, Zion Church, Wappingers Falls, formed a vestry4 and was admitted into union with the diocese.
1 Dutchess County Clerk's records, Book of Incorporation of Churches, p. 84.
2 Ibid., p. 67.
3 Ibid., p. 106.
4 Ibid., p. 111.
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PEN AND INK SKETCH Made in 1834, of the Screen which was in the Second Church from 1834 to 1854 Proportions of sketch faulty, but design correct
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St. Paul's, Poughkeepsie, was founded in 1835 by the leaders of the Improvement Party, as part of their plan for the development of a desirable residence section in the village. These men laid out Mansion Square, and purposed to surround it with handsome dwellings, and they believed that a Church was needed there. As most of them were members of Christ Church, it followed that it was an Episcopal Church they organized.1 The site for a building was donated by Walter Cunning- ham, Paraclete Potter and George P. Oakley. Oakley, Potter and Nathaniel P. Tallmadge were the most active in establishing St. Paul's, and withdrew entirely from Christ Church to promote the welfare of the new parish. In the initial steps toward its formation, they obtained the help of several members of Christ Church, who served a few terms in the vestry at St. Paul's, until the permanency of the new Church was assured, but who did not sever their original parochial connection.
The first Rector of St. Paul's, the Rev. Frederick W. Hatch, assumed his duties in Poughkeepsie in June, 1836, and that summer began to hold services at Pleasant Valley also,2 with the result that in 1837 St. Paul's, Pleasant Valley, was organized,3 and sent delegates to Convention.
One other parish, St. Peter's, Pawlingsville, is men- tioned at this time. It was organized4 in 1839, and reported itself to Convention that year, but seems to have passed out of existence, since.
1 Dutchess County Clerk's records, Book of Incorporation of Churches, p. 118.
2 Journal of the Convention of the Diocese of New York, 1836.
3 Dutchess County Clerk's records, Book of Incorporation of Churches, p. 127.
4 Ibid., p. 135.
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The spread of the Church in Dutchess County occurred in the latter part of Dr. Reed's rectorate in Pough- keepsie, just as his age and the accumulated effect of his long continued labor for this parish began to tell upon him. His handwriting in 1839 shows a palsied tendency, and this probably indicates the first of the several para- lytic strokes he suffered, and from which he died in 1845.
As he recognized the failure of his health, he became greatly concerned for the future of the congregation which he had spent his life in gathering and serving, and he deliberately set about choosing his own successor.
On January 1st, 1842, he wrote a letter to the vestry in which he said that "increasing age, bringing with it some infirmities, has reminded me that the time will . soon come, if, indeed, not already arrived, when I should be unable to perform all the multiplied duties devolving upon me as Rector of the Church, either with profit to the people or satisfaction to myself; I have however been meditating an appeal to you for assistance. As soon as the now Rev. Mr. Wheaton determined to take Orders, knowing his more than common talents, pru- dence, and piety, I was desirous of securing his services for our congregation, and hence early had a conversation with him upon the subject. I therefore, Gentlemen, take the liberty of recommending that you employ him, and cannot but express the hope that he will finally become your Rector."
The vestry at once complied with Dr. Reed's request, and, in January, 1842, the Rev. Homer Wheaton became Assistant Minister in Christ Church. Dr. Reed's full confidence in, and approval of, Mr. Wheaton, was again expressed in a sermon in February, 1845, when he told the members of Christ Church that "the desire has for sever-
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THE REV. JOHN REED, S.T.D. RECTOR OF CHRIST CHURCH, 1810-1845 From a daguerreotype in the possession of his granddaughter Mrs. Robert E. Coxe
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al years occupied my mind, that, when we shall be separated, I might leave you in the charge of a wise and faithful shepherd. And now I rejoice in the confident hope that, when I shall be called hence, I shall leave you under the guidance in spiritual things of one, who is my own deliberate choice, and who, I believe, is worthy of the charge of immortal souls."
The sermon containing the above passage was Dr. Reed's farewell to his people. It was read to the con- gregation by Mr. Wheaton, on the Third Sunday in Lent (February 23d), 1845, and was afterward printed in pamphlet form, and is a touching expression of the love he bore his people and his sense of his spiritual responsibility toward them. His subject was "Peace," and, after a treatment of it which was an unconscious revelation of the ripe' strength and beauty of his own character, he added:
And now, my beloved brethren, let me commend this sub- ject to your understanding and your hearts, as the last legacy I can leave you. I do it, not in the exact sense of a valedic- tory, but I send it to you as a word of counsel in season, under a strong apprehension that my infirmities may prevent my bid- ding you a farewell.
It is now nearly thirty-five years since I took pastoral charge of this congregation, and it is among my most pleasant reflec- tions that, through this long period, uninterrupted peace and harmony have obtained among you. And I am thankful in being able to say that never has the thought, even, disturbed my mind that your harmony would be interrupted, or that heresy and schism would distract you.
This happy state of things has not arisen from any ability of mine, or from respect to, or influence of, my imperfect labors, but it has been the fruit of growing piety to God, and increas- ing good will to each other. You have passed through many trying scenes, but you have come out from them unharmed; and, all 'offences forgiven and forgotten, you here bowed to-
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gether at the consecrated altar of your common Head and Father.
I have been among you in many and various scenes, by day and by night. I have accompanied you in the days of your prosperity, and have rejoiced when you rejoiced. And O, in how many scenes of sorrow have I been with you!
Brethren, I stand to you in a nearer relationship, and am bound to you by stronger ties than I have language to de- scribe. A great portion of this congregation have I had in my arms, and united them to Christ's body in the holy sacrament of baptism; many of you, brethren,-and would to God the number had been greater,-have I admitted to the comfortable sacrament of the Holy Supper. When I first came among you, I publicly told you that I came to serve you in the most mo- mentous of all human relations, and, in discharging my duties, to live and die with you; and that I was determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
The sermon closed with a prayer for peace, the spirit of which prayer the parish may well absorb, for all time, for its guidance, and as a valued bequest from one to whom it owes an incalculable debt:
O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only Saviour, the Prince of peace, give us grace seriously to lay to heart the great danger of dissensions and divisions, and ear- nestly to strive to maintain and set forward quietness, peace and love among all Christian people;
Take away all hatred, prejudice and whatsoever else may hinder us from godly union and concord;
That, as there is but one body, and one spirit, and one hope of our calling, one Lord, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, so may we henceforth be all of one heart and of one soul, united in one holy bond of truth and peace, of faith and char- ity, and may with one mind and one mouth glorify Thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Dr. Reed died July 6th, 1845, and the attendance at the funeral services,1 held in the church, bore eloquent
1 The Churchman, July 26th, 1845.
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tribute to the affection and respect in which he had been held. The officiating clergy were the Rev. Homer Wheaton, Assistant Minister, and the Rev. Edward Davis of St. Paul's Church, Charlton, New York (a spiritual son of Christ Church), the Rev. Reuben Sherwood of St. James's, Hyde Park, and the Rev. Dr. John Brown of St. George's, Newburgh, who preach- ed the sermon. The church was draped in black, and the members of the vestry wore crepe on the left arm for thirty days.
In 1910, in the congregation of Christ Church, there are probably only a few who are familiar with Dr. Reed's name, or who realize about him more than that he was a good man who once lived andlabored hereas Rector. It is therefore hardly possible to emphasize too strongly the truth that this same congregation of 1910 owes to him many of its blessings.
Dr. Reed came to Poughkeepsie in the summer of 1810, just a century ago, and his thirty-five years of quiet, wise, and faithful work secured to Christ Church a posi- tion of dignity and honor in the community, a hundred years of steady growth, and a membership loyal and devoted unto the third and fourth generations.
Names of Pewholders 1810-1832
The pews were sold annually from August, 1810, to August, 1832, the building being torn down in 1833. The individuals, whose names are here given, did not all buy pews every year, but the list includes all those who did purchase from 1810 to 1832:
B. Ebenezer Badger; Sarah and Susan Baker; Valentine Baker; (Cat .? Baker?); Richard S. Balding; Charlotte Baldwin; Isaac I. Baldwin; William Bard; Frederick H. Barnard; Charles P. Barnum; Thomas Barrett; Mrs.
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Barrett; William T. Belden; Jedediah Benjamin; Mrs. Billings; Amaziah Blakesley; George Bloom; William W. Bogardus; Joseph A. Bostwick; Jabez Bosworth; Joseph Bowman; Godfrey Bowman; George Boyd; Gil- bert Brewster; David Brooks; Joseph Brown; Thomas Brownejohn; John Brush; Uriah Bulkley; William H. Bulkley; Dennis Burke; Josiah Burritt; R. Burritt; Jacob Bush; Philo Bush.
C. Alva T. Canfield; Edward Cary; Allen Clarke; Stephen Cleveland; Henry Conklin; Nathan Conklin; Dr. John Cooper; Archibald C. Crary; Sarah Crary; John Crooke; Mrs. Cropsey; Joseph H. Cunningham; Walter Cunning- ham.
D. E. K. Dakin; Thomas L. Davies; William Davies; Daniel Davis; Henry Davis; John Davis; Mrs. John Davis, John H. Davis; Leonard Davis; Richard Davis; "Wid'w Sally Davis;" Warren De Lancey; John De Pew; Mrs. De Puyster; Mrs. Deveaux; Isaac Doughty; Samuel Dut- ton; Stephen Duzenbury; Joshua Dyett.
E. James Emott; William Emott; Peter Everitt; Richard ard Everitt; George B. Evertson.
F. Nathaniel Ferris; John Field; Samuel Flewelling; John L. Fonda; Richard Fonda; Alexander Forbus; ( ? ) Franklyn; Bronson French; Mrs. Frith.
G. George Gallimore; Ezekiel Gardner; ( ? ) Gavitt; John B. Gay; ( ? ) Gay; Robert Gill; Thomas Goelet; James Gorrell; James Graham; Mrs. Ann Green; William Gullen; Abel Gunn; Joseph Gunn; Mrs. Gunn.
H. George Halliwell; Frederick Harrison; James Harvey; Dr. Hasbrouck; Daniel Hebard; John Jay Hebard; Adam Henderson; Stephen Hendricksen; ( ? ) Herrick; Robert Hitchcock; Mrs. A. Hoffman; Mrs. Gertrude Hoffman; John L. Holthuysen; James Hooker; Matthew Hopper; Stephen Hoyt; Mrs. Hoyt; Guy Hyde.
I. Mrs. Ingraham.
J. Richard James; ( ? ) Jarvis; F. W. Jewett; Nathan Jew- ett; Samuel Johnson; John Johnston, Esq.
K. Robert Kearney; Henry Kelsey; Gilbert Ketcham; . Lydia Kidney; Nathaniel Kimball.
L. David B. Lent; Sabin Lewis; Joseph G. Lightbourne.
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M. Leonard Maison; Peter R. Maison; James Meeks; Mat- thew Mesier; Nathaniel G. Minturn; Mrs. Michael; Isaac Mitchell; Mary Mitchell; Robert Mitchell; Statia Mitchell; Stephen Mitchell; Mrs. Mitchell; Daniel Mooney; Peter B. Morgan; Gideon Moseley; Mrs. Moseley; John P. Myers; Nathan Myers; N. Myers, Jr .; Peter Ten Broeck Myers.
N. Jacob Nelson; George Newport; Dr. William W. Nicholl; Mr. Nicholls; Benjamin Noble; Bartholomew Noxon; Robert Noxon; Ebenezer Nye.
0. George Peters Oakley; John W. Oakley; Thomas J. Oak- ley; William Osborn.
P. John Pardee; Stephen Pardee; Sylvester Parker; Miss Parker; John Parkinson; Chester Parsons; Seth Parsons; Mrs. Parsons; E. T. Payne; Grove A. Pease; David Phil- lips; Mrs. Phillips; John Pierce; Marinus Pierce; Miss Rebecca Pierce; Captain Pierce; Mr. Pierson; Paraclete Potter; Sheldon Potter; Richard Pudney.
R. David Van Ness Radcliff; Nathaniel Radford; Mr. Rain- geard; John Reade; Mrs. Reade; Henry Relay; Mrs. Henry Relay; John D. Robinson; Charles P. Rogers; Hilen Rudd; Theron Rudd; Nathaniel Ruggles; Philo Ruggles; John Ryan.
S. James Sands; William Sands; Samuel Sibley; Warren Skinner; Gerard S. Sloan; Abel Smith; Granville Smith; William C. Smith; Reuben Spencer; John Stanwix; Elias Steenburgh; Damon Stephens; Randall S. Street; A. B. Swift.
T. Nathaniel P. Tallmadge; George Taylor; Dr. Taylor; Dr. John Thomas; Dr. William Thomas; Abiel G. Thompson; Mrs. Abiel Thompson; E. Thompson; Dr. Elias Trivett; William Turner.
V. Jacob Van Benthuysen; James L. Van Kleeck; Lawrence I. Van Kleeck; Jacob Van Ness; Hiram Veltman.
W. Jonathon Wadsworth; Joseph J. Waldron; ( ? ) Ward; Richard Wiley; Thomas Williams; Mrs. Wilson; Frede- rick Woodruff; William H. Worrall; Amaziah Wright; Dr. Wright.
Y. · Mrs. Yelverton.
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CHAPTER VII
1845-1875
THE RISE OF THE HIGH CHURCH PARTY. ITS WORK FOR CHURCH
EXTENSION, SCHOOLS AND HOSPITALS. CHURCHMANSHIP IN THIS PARISH. THE REV. HOMER WHEATON. THE PARISH LIBRARY. REPAIRS TO THE CHURCH BUILDING. THE FONT. THE CHANDELIERS. THE DOVE. THE PARISH SCHOOL. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS IN POUGH- KEEPSIE. THE ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY COMFORTER. CHURCH SCHOOLS. ST. BARNABAS'S HOSPITAL. REMINISCENCES OF 1842-1847. ERECTION OF A SUNDAY SCHOOL ROOM, 1848. THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. CHURCH BELLS. THE CHANCEL ALTERED. VESTMENTS. THE DEVELOPMENT IN CHURCH MUSIC. OBSERVANCE OF CHRISTMAS. PERSONNEL OF THE CONGREGATION. SPE- CIAL SERVICES. BUSINESS MATTERS. THE REV. DR. CADY. DUTCHESS CONVOCATION.
I
N the latter part of the rectorate of Dr. Reed a new party arose in the Episcopal Church in the United States.
Hitherto, the Low Church school of thought had been dominant, except in New York, where Bishop Hobart's influence prevailed. Hence, it follows that this parish, moulded by Dr. Reed in harmony with Bishop Hobart's teachings, was many years in advance of its time in absorbing certain principles, which, later, became more widely known and accepted in the period with which this chapter is concerned.
In 1833 a group of men at Oxford University took the first steps in what came to be known as the Oxford Movement. Profoundly imbued with a belief in the
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Apostolic origin and authority of the Anglican Commun- ion, and of the importance of the sacraments in religious life, Newman, Pusey, Keble, Froude and others began their crusade to awaken the Church of England to a realizing sense of her own nature, claims and privileges, to which, in great measure, she had become indifferent. Their famous series of Tracts for the Times, published 1833-1841, created widespread discussion in this country as well as in England, and was largely responsible for the emergence of the High Church party into well defined existence.
This school believed that Episcopalians possessed in the Episcopate an institution that was traceable, his- torically, to the days of the Apostles; that the power of the Bishop of Rome was an accretion, several centuries after the Apostles, and that the many bodies of Christians (of various nomenclature), formed since the Reformation, were not validly organized. They considered Rome and the Denominations to be equally additions to, and de- partures from, the primitive Christian Church, one branch of which had perpetuated itself in the Church of England.
These High Churchmen further proclaimed that re- ligion was not merely individual, but corporate as well. Not merely the relation of a man's soul to its Maker (the chief concern of the Low Churchmen), but that relation sustained and fed by the sacraments of the visible Church.
Their idea of the historical continuity of the Episcopal Church gave them an appreciation of law and order, and that, in turn, made them a conservative force, opposed to all irregularities of ordination or innovations in doctrine.
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With the conception of the Church as a living, in- herited organism certain views of the sacraments were correlated, and the latter ultimately wrought a revolu- tion in America in the chancels of our churches, the ritual of our services, the vestments of the clergy and in the architecture of church buildings. The New England meeting-house type gave way before this reversion to the cruciform, Gothic structures of the mother Church of England, and the three-decker pulpit, desk and Table underwent a kaleidescopic separation. The Tables were put back into the newly created chancels, and became solidly built Altars, and the pulpits and desks were moved to subordinate, lateral positions.
When the High Church party first began to form, the machinery of the Church, such as the administration of foreign missionary work, was under the direction of the Low Churchmen. The zeal and consecration of the new element demanding an outlet, it came about that new agencies for Christian service were called into being at home, and High Churchmen came to be identified with schools and hospitals and religious orders, and the establishment of new parishes, all of which provided an opportunity for action near at hand.
These developments in the Church as a whole were reproduced in Christ Church in miniature.
Our Rectors from 1845 to 1875 were the Rev. Homer Wheaton, the Rev. Dr. Samuel Buel and the Rev. Dr. Philander K. Cady. Dr. Buel and Dr. Cady were ex- ponents of High Church principles. Mr. Wheaton began his ministry in sympathy with the teachings of his precep- tor, Dr. Reed, and he was an invigorating force for good in this parish in the short time that his connection with it lasted; but, some years after he left Poughkeepsie, his
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THE REV. HOMER WHEATON ASSISTANT MINISTER OF CHRIST CHURCH, 1842-1845 RECTOR, 1846-1847 From a miniature in the possession of his grandson Isaac S. Wheaton
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intellectual processes led him torenounce his Orders in the Protestant Episcopal Church, and to enter the Roman Communion as a layman. John Henry Newman was his friend and correspondent, and, just as Newman's spiritu- ality is, through his writings, the heritage of all Christians, regardless of outward divisions, so may Christ Church well treasure a knowledge of the beauty of mind and temper of one who once served and loved her, although separated from her later in other ecclesiastical bonds.
Mr. Wheaton was virtually Rector of Christ Church all the time that he was nominally Assistant Minister, that is to say from 1842 to 1845. He and his wife came to Poughkeepsie to live, about 1837, he being a lawyer, and Poughkeepsie offering a promising field for the prac- tice of his profession; but he soon came under Dr. Reed's personal observation and influence, and, by 1841, had decided to be ordained to the ministry. His admission to the Diaconate took place in Christ Church on Decem- ber 9th, 1841, and on January 1st, 1842, he became as- sistant to Dr. Reed, being advanced to the Priesthood November 13th, 1842. In the five years of his official connection with this congregation he made so deep an impression, in that which is Christlike in personal character, that the few persons, now remaining, who were here then, speak of him with emotion and enthu- siasm.
To Mr. Wheaton's distinctly literary tastes, is, in part, to be attributed the establishment, by the Sunday School teachers, of a parish library, the year after his coming to Christ Church. Between All Saints' and St. Andrew's Day, 1843, a list of subscribers was ob- tained, who agreed to pay twenty-five cents a month for "the benefits of a Library of Church books, devotional
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