USA > New York > Dutchess County > Poughkeepsie > The records of Christ church, Poughkeepsie, New York, Vol I > Part 20
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Just at this time, the Corporation had sold the glebe to John and Andrew Dunn, so there was no house to offer Mr. Spierin, and this want of a parsonage ultimately led to his resignation. It is not known where he lived while in Poughkeepsie, nor do the records of Christ Church show what agreement was entered into between him and Trinity Church, Fishkill, where he gave one third of his time.
While at Newburgh, and while at Poughkeepsie, Mr. Spierin was a regular attendant at the sessions of the Diocesan Convention, and in October, 1792, received the thanks of that body for his sermon preached before it. In 1794 he was elected to the standing committee of the diocese, and in 1795 was chosen a delegate to the General Conven- tion of the Church.
Mr. Spierin is but few times referred to in the records of Christ Church, and what part he may have borne in the conduct of parochial affairs is not indicated. A letter of November 13th, 1794, from him to the vestry is preserved, the handwriting of which is peculiarly uniform, clear and fine, while the tone of the communication suggests a man of modest, conciliating disposition, who was bearing with patience circumstances undeniably trying. This letter is the only hint of Mr. Spierin's personality. He said:
1
Gentn'
When I had the honor of being called in the char'a of pastor to reside amongst you, that friendship, which seemed to cement us, was the only voucher I had required to strengthen any con- tract; being determined, as I still am, when that ceased, not
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(to) render either you or myself unhappy, or to bring a reflec- tion on that cause the advancement of which is my most ear- nest pursuit. That friendship, I trust, still continues inviolate. On my part I pledge myself never to willingly or knowingly forfeit her smiles.
I expected that the summer after my arrival here I w'd have a house built for me or the rent of one paid for; the third win- ter is at hand and no such provision made. The pittance I have had from the Church, a pittance unparalleled anywhere, w'd be no mighty allowance in these exorbitant times for House-rent and firewood. The Academy, upon the arrange- ment likely to take place, deranges my expectations. The times are hard, the labor great.
These circumstances, duly considered, will, I hope, prove a suffic't Apology for my requesting to know if my house-rent in future will be paid? If the subscription paper will be hand- ed about to those Gent'n who wish to subscribe?
The omission of this last bore the resemblance of a disappro- bation, or dislike, to me, as it w'd be advancing me with't much trouble or expence to you. If this should be the case, I'll be thankful to be made acquainted with it, that I may save my- self and you from many a wound, ever attendant on such a Sit'n, by a conduct that w'd finally terminate it.
I could wish, as I intend to extricate myself from difficulties as soon as possible, that you w'd endeavor to clear off whats past, that I may arrange my little affairs in future to more ad- vantage.
I am Gent'n with Sentiments of affect'n & Esteem Your very H'ble & ob't Serv't Geo. H. Spierin.
The reply of the vestry informed him of active measures taken to obtain subscriptions, and of their "wish to express our best wishes for your welfare, & nothing but our inability prevents us from antici- pating your most ardent wishes. You will do us injustice if you sup- pose our friendship less ardent than yours; may you long continue an eminent pastor in the Church is the sincere wish of your affect. Bretheren."
But circumstances were too strongly against the prosperity of the parish at this time, for Mr. Spierin's fortunes to be much bettered, and, on December 9th, 1795, he "informed Vestry of his intention in Quiting this place in a few days to go to Virginia."
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In 1796 he represented St. Asaph's parish, Caroline County, in the Convention of the Diocese of Virginia, and also presided over an academy in the neighborhood, but remained little more than a year, as, on January 6th, 1798, he was elected Rector of Prince George's parish, Winyaw, South Carolina. There, too, he superintended a seminary. In 1802 he resigned this charge to accept that of Grace Church, Sulli- van's Island, Charleston Harbor. He died at Sullivan's Island, Sep- tember 12th, 1804, of yellow fever, after four days' illness, and was buried in the cemetery of St. Philip's Church, Charleston.
Dr. Frederick Dalcho, a resident of Charleston 1799-1836, and Assistant Minister in St. Michael's Church, there, for many years, published in 1820 a History of the Protestant Episcopal Church in South Carolina. He said: "Mr. Spierin was descended from a re- spectable family in Ireland, and was a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin. He left his native country in 1787, and arrived in New York early in November."
As Dr. Dalcho had every opportunity of knowing Mr. Spierin per- sonally, this statement, though otherwise unsupported, is worthy of acceptance. Dr. Dalcho adds that grief for the death, in 1802, of a son of much promise, so undermined Mr. Spierin's health, that he fell an easy victim to an attack of yellow fever.
It does not appear whether Mr. Spierin left descendants. The name is not known in Charleston at the present time.
AUTHORITIES-
Whitehead's History of Perth Amboy, pp. 233-234.
Clayton's History of Union and Middlesex Counties, N. J.
Dix: History of Trinity Parish, New York City, Vol. 2, p. 127.
Headley's History of Orange County, N. Y., pp. 613-614, 630.
Records of Christ Church, Poughkeepsie.
Journal of the Convention of the Diocese of New York, 1790-1795. Meade's Old Churches, etc., of Virginia, pub. 1857, Vol. 1, p. 414.
Dalcho's History of the Church in South Carolina, pp. 308, 317, 396.
JOHN JOHNSON SAYRS, A.M.
RECTOR OF CHRIST CHURCH, POUGHKEEPSIE AND OF TRINITY CHURCH, FISHKILL
DECEMBER 25TH, 1795,-FEBRUARY 14TH, 1798
John Johnson Sayrs was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1774, and was educated at Princeton. He graduated with the class of 1792, and received his Master's degree in 1795.
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December 25th, 1795, he succeeded Mr. Spierin in the Rectorship of Christ Church, the vestry entering into an engagement with "the Rev. Mr. John J. Sayrs," to officiate three Sundays out of every four until December 25th, 1796, for which services he was to receive £120.0.0.
The fact that Mr. Sayrs entered into this engagement at the time that he did is of some importance in connection with the confusion which exists regarding the date of his ordination.
A List of Persons admitted to Orders from 1785, published many years ago by Bishop Burgess, states that John Johnson Sayrs was "ordained" in 1801 by Bishop Clagett of Maryland. Sprague's Annals of the American Pulpit (Episcopal), p. 407, says Mr. Sayrs was ordained "Deacon and Priest" by Bishop Clagett. If these authorities are cor- rect, then, while in Poughkeepsie, Mr. Sayrs was a lay reader only.
However, Dr. Ethan Allen's Clergy in Maryland of the Protestant Episcopal Church since 1783, published in 1860, says Mr. Sayrs was "ordained" by Bishop White of Pennsylvania in 1792, and this sug- gests, as a solution of the difficulty, that, in 1792, young Sayrs of Prince- ton was made Deacon by Bishop White, in which capacity he ministered to the congregations at Poughkeepsie and Fishkill, later, upon his removal to Maryland, receiving Priest's Orders from Bishop Clagett in 1801. Bishop White's original ordination records would probably settle this uncertainty, but search has failed to discover them.
When John J. Sayrs came to Poughkeepsie, he was a youth of twenty- one. Richard Davis and William Emott were the wardens of the parish, middle-aged men of positive character, who had long held the reins of parochial affairs. The vestry was made up of other men of the same sort, and it is small wonder that we have no knowledge of the young incumbent, personally, from contemporary references. The vestry records show the ordering of all material concerns by that body without consultation with him. He left behind him a manuscript record of baptisms, marriages and burials, at which he officiated while here, judging from which he would seem to have been active in his pastoral capacity.
At the expiration of his first year in Poughkeepsie, the standing committee of the vestry resolved unanimously that, in their opinion, "the Rev. John J. Sayrs has conducted with propriety in his vocation in this Church, and that we are desirous of entering into farther en- gagements with him as a Clergyman." February 14th, 1797, the vestry voted to "pay to the Rev'd John J. Sayrs £140 salary for one year's service as Rector in this Church for the ensuing year, provided he will accept the same for three-fourths of his time," which offer Mr. Sayrs did accept.
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December 7th, 1797, "the Reverend Mr. Sayrs our present Rector signified to the Vestry his intention to decline a Call in the Church the ensuing year." From Poughkeepsie, in 1798, Mr. Sayrs went south, being called to the Rectorship of Durham Parish, Charles County, Maryland, on January 14th, 1799. Here he remained about four years, when, his health failing somewhat, he gave up his parish, and removed to George- town, in the District of Columbia. He had married, while in Durham Parish, Miss Sophia Sprake, and, at first, after going to Georgetown, supported his family by teaching. Then, by his preaching and in- fluence, he was the means of founding and organizing St. John's parish, Georgetown, becoming Rector of the same, and also, in 1806 and 1807, Chaplain of the United States Senate.
Mr. Sayrs died January 6th, 1809, in his thirty-fifth year, leaving a widow and two sons. One son died unmarried; the other, John Johnson Sayrs, Jr., has descendants now living in Virginia.
At the time of Mr. Sayrs's death he was Rector of St. John's, George- town. His body was buried beneath the chancel of that church, and Francis Scott Key, one of his vestry, wrote the following lines which mark his resting-place:
John J. Sayrs huj: Eclae. Rector pri: hic quo servus Christi fideliter Ministravit, Sep: jac: ob. 6 Jan. A.D. MDCCCIX AE XXXV
Here once stood forth a man, who from the world, Though bright its aspect to his youthful eye, Turned with affection ardent to his God, And lived and died an humble minister Of His benignant purposes to man. Here lies he now-yet grieve not thou for him, Reader, he trusted in that love where none Have ever vainly trusted. Rather let His marble speak to thee: and shouldst thou feel The rising of a new and solemn thought Waked by this sacred place, and sad memorial, O listen to its impulse-'tis Divine And it shall guide thee to a life of joy, A death of hope, and endless bliss hereafter.
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AUTHORITIES
Sayrs Genealogy, by Theodore M. Banta, 1901, pp. 106, 196.
Records of Princeton University.
Records of Christ Church, Poughkeepsie.
Records of Durham Parish, Charles County, Md., deposited in the Maryland Diocesan Library, Baltimore, Md.
Bishop Burgess's List of Persons admitted to Orders.
Allen's Clergy in Maryland of the Protestant Episcopal Church.
Sprague's Annals of the American Pulpit (Episcopal), p. 407.
PHILANDER CHASE, D.D.
RECTOR OF CHRIST CHURCH, POUGHKEEPSIE AND OF TRINITY CHURCH, FISHKILL
NOVEMBER 27TH, 1799,-DECEMBER -, 1805
Philander Chase, who served Christ Church as its fifth Rector, is conspicuous in the history of the Church in the United States.
Down that perspective his figure looms, gigantic, masterful, romantic. Large in body, in character, in deed, dominant of will and suggestive of the elder days of daring and adventure, the man himself stands out above the facts of his career.
Briefly recounted, those life facts are these. Born at Cornish, New Hampshire, December 14th, 1775, he graduated at Dartmouth College in 1795. A year as a teacher in the Albany Academy, during which he was under the friendly care and clerical instruction of the Rev. Mr. Ellison, Rector of St. Peter's, Albany, led to his ordination to the Diaconate on June 10th, 1798, by Bishop Provoost in New York City.
He began his work in the Church at once, in what were then out- lying portions of the Diocese of New York, travelling from place to place as a missionary, and founding parishes. At Utica, at Auburn, at Canandaigua and other places, his labor bore fruit in organized con- gregations.
Being called as Rector to the joint parishes at Poughkeepsie and Fishkill, he accepted the charge, and, after receiving Priest's Orders from Bishop Provoost in New York on November 10th, assumed this cure on November 27th, 1799.
He left Poughkeepsie in October, 1805, and went to New Orleans, where he organized the parish of Christ Church, and held the Rector- ship thereof until 1811. Returning north, in order that his children might be educated in New England, he was Rector of Christ Church, Hartford, 1811-1817.
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In 1817 he went to Ohio, where the Episcopal Church was unknown, and where the conditions were still those of the frontier. February 11th,; 1819, he was consecrated Bishop of the Diocese of Ohio, which he had newly-created. He resigned this Bishopric in 1831, pushed west still farther, and, in 1835, was made Bishop of Illinois. He was the Presiding Bishop of the Church from 1843 until his death, September 20th, 1852. In 1822 Columbia conferred upon him the degree of D.D.
The moving impulse of Bishop Chase's life and character was the missionary spirit which flamed within him. And this missionary zeal seemed ever to be demanding fresh fields and wider opportunities for its energies. He was restless under settled conditions, and wished always to be breaking new ground. In going to New Orleans, his task was the organization of a parish where none had been before. He chafed under the calm of parochial life in Hartford, and from thence fared forth to plant the Church in Ohio. There he organized parishes (assuming, himself, the Rectorship of three and the charge of an academy), travelled here and there in the sparsely settled country, lived in most primitive quarters, performed all manner of manual labor, and endured all varieties of hardship and privation.
Bishop Burgess of Maine wrote1 of him, shortly after his death :- "There was in Bishop Chase an element of what may be termed ro- mance. He was struck with the striking, the touching, the morally picturesque view of a transaction. * He appeared to love those duties which involved some adventure and exposure, some appeal to the imagination, and some requisition upon both muscular and mental energies."
Soon after he became Bishop of Ohio he went to England (in the face of much disapproval of his act) to solicit funds to found and endow a college and theological seminary. He returned with thirty thousand dollars, and Kenyon College and Gambier Seminary are the result.
In 1831 a difference arose between him and some of his clergy re- garding the extent of his power of jurisdiction over the college and its faculty, and he resigned, both as President of Kenyon and as Bishop of Ohio. This was wholly characteristic. Bishop Burgess said1 further of him : "It was given him to lead; and he was impatient when men were slow to follow. He identified himself with his work, and, if he were thwarted or contradicted, it was not always easy for him to feel that it could have been in Christian sincerity. Few men were readier to forgive; but the very warmth with which he laid hold in a
1 Sprague's Annals of the American Pulpit (Episcopal), pp. 453-462.
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good cause, and the consciousness of his own simplicity of purpose, would not permit him to regard otherwise than as personal opponents some who wished well to his undertakings, but withheld their confidence from some of his decisions."
Bishop Smith of Kentucky, writing1 in 1857 of Bishop Chase, speaks of the impression made upon him, at their first meeting in 1828, of the huge size of the latter, whose massive form and majestic height, were set off by his costume which consisted of a cassock, and a velvet skull cap. He describes the quick and nervous play of all the muscles of the face of Bishop Chase, a certain archness of expression, and a child- light in his eye. Bishop Smith says1 also: "The firm, persistent traits of his character were well expressed by his personal appearance, but not its intensity. This intensity was so gushing and impetuous, that it either carried everything before it, and repelled the listless and indifferent from his track, or aroused a positive resistance. Where he was, others were more likely to hear, than to be heard. * Such tenacity of purpose, and indomitable firmness of will, within this age has probably not had its equal, except in the case of the great Wellington or the late Emperor of all the Russias. And, however severe may be the criticism which time and experience may pass upon the wisdom and expediency of some of his plans and measures, the manner in which he rose above difficulties, surmounted obstacles, and even turned reverses to good account, will awaken the admiration of all who follow his footsteps, or study his character."
Bishop Chase married in 1796 Mary, daughter of Daniel Fay of Hardwick, Massachusetts. She died in 1818. In 1819 he married Sophia May, daughter of Duncan Ingraham of Philadelphia, who sur- vived him. He had several children, and his Life has recently been written by a granddaughter.
AUTHORITIES
Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, Vol. 1, pp. 584-585.
Life of Philander Chase, by Laura Chase Smith, 1903. Records of Christ Church, Poughkeepsie.
1 Sprague's Annals of the American Pulpit (Episcopal), pp. 453-462.
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BARZILLAI BULKLEY 1 RECTOR OF CHRIST CHURCH, POUGHKEEPSIE AND OF TRINITY CHURCH, FISHKILL
AUGUST 17TH, 1806,-AUGUST 17TH, 1809
Of the sixth Rector of Christ Church but the merest outline of a biographical sketch is obtainable. He was born January 22d, 1780, of a family founded in Fairfield County, Connecticut, in the earliest days of the colony, by the Rev. Peter Bulkley, a noted Congregational preacher. The homestead of the branch of the family to which Barzillai Bulkley belonged was in the town of New Fairfield, and his father, Jonathan Bulkley, attended St. John's Church, in the ad- joining town of New Milford.
It is not known where Mr. Bulkley was educated, nor where he was prepared for the ministry, but he was made Deacon in June, 1805, by Bishop Jarvis of Connecticut, at Middletown.
For a year after Mr. Bulkley's ordination he had no parish. A manuscript sermon of his is endorsed by him as having been preached at Fairfield on August 18th; at Bedford on October 13th; at New Milford on November 10th, 1805; at Troy on May 11th, 1806, and at Poughkeepsie on June 15th, 1806.
It may be inferred that this oft-repeated discourse was well received, for his visit to Poughkeepsie, and its delivery, led to his being called to the Rectorship of Christ Church, vacant since the departure of Mr. Chase.
Articles of agreement, which were drawn between the Church and Mr. Bulkley, provided that his rectorate should date from August 17th, 1806; he was to have the use of the parsonage house and lot, and $300.00 for one year; thereafter, $200.00 a year (unless the subscriptions could be increased to $300.00); and was to serve Christ Church two Sundays in succession out of every three, and Festivals and Holy Days in the same proportion.
The Journal of the Convention of the Diocese of New York for October, 1806, records Mr. Bulkley as officiating at Poughkeepsie in Deacon's Orders. It has been impossible to learn when, or by whom, he was advanced to the Priesthood.
In August, 1809, at the end of his third year, Mr. Bulkley and the vestry of Christ Church dissolved their relations by mutual consent. Mr. Bulkley next settled at Flushing, Long Island, where he was Rector of St. George's Church from 1810 until his death, March 29th, 1820 .. His body was buried on Good Friday beneath the chancel of the church, Bishop Hobart officiating at the funeral.
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In his Convention address that year, Bishop Hobart, said: "I have to record the death of the Reverend Barzillai Bulkley, Rector of St. George's, Flushing, who united in an eminent degree primitive Church principles with primitive humility and piety."
On the south wall of the chancel of the Flushing church is a tablet bearing an inscription, the last line of which might receive revision.
In memory of Rev. Barzillai Bulkley, Rector of St. George's Church, Flushing, Who departed this life the 29th of March, 1820, Having been in charge of this parish For the ten years preceding his death, This monument is erected to his memory By his surviving widow.
Mr. Bulkley had no children. His widow, whose maiden name was Mary Gunn, died at her birthplace, New Milford, Connecticut, July 21st, 1866, aged eighty-one, and his nearest representative at present is a great-niece, resident at Brookfield, Connecticut. His brother, William J. Bulkley, also a Church clergyman, ministered in the West Indies, and left descendants.
AUTHORITIES
Private records in the Bulkley family.
Bishop Burgess's List of Persons admitted to Orders.
Historical Sketch, Holy Trinity Parish, Middletown, Ct.
Records of Christ Church, Poughkeepsie.
Records of St. George's Church, Flushing, L. I. Journal of the Convention of the Diocese of New York, 1806, 1820.
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JOHN REED, A.M., S.T.D.
RECTOR OF CHRIST CHURCH
AUGUST 19TH, 1810,-JULY 6TH, 1845
John Reed was born at Wickford, Rhode Island, June 4th, 1777. From his early youth he wished to enter the ministry, and when he was sixteen years old began to teach, in order to earn the money to obtain a collegiate education. He was prepared for college under the Rev. Dr. Benedict of Plainfield, Connecticut, and entered Union, where he was
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graduated in 1805. The records of Union mention his receiving, later, the degree of A.M., but omit to state in what year.
He studied theology the year following his graduation, and on May 27th, 1806, was admitted to Deacon's Orders by Bishop Moore of New York. St. Luke's Church, Catskill, New York, then called him to its Rectorship, and he accepted the call, and entered upon the charge, al- though it was two years before he was advanced to the Priesthood. He received Priest's Orders from Bishop Moore, June 17th, 1808.
In 1810 he was called to Christ Church, Poughkeepsie, his settlement as Rector of the parish being effected August 19th of that year, and his earnest and devoted labors continuing in this one field until his death, thirty-five years later.
At the time of his death he was a Trustee of the General Theological Seminary, and had been such for about nineteen years. In 1822 the degree of S.T.D. was conferred upon him by Columbia, and in 1835 he represented the Diocese of New York in the General Convention, having previously been elected an alternate delegate to the Convention of 1832.
In Dr. Reed's life and character the most conspicuous quality was his consecration of spirit in the pastoral relation. Throughout the thirty- five years of his association with Christ Church, he was constant and unvarying in his devotion to his people.
It has sometimes been thought that he was an autocrat within the bounds of his parochial kingdom. Rather, let it be said that he exer- cised a beneficent paternalism. While, beyond doubt, it is true that he did direct and control the affairs of the parish himself, to a pre- ponderant extent, it is also true that this was the natural outgrowth of his heart-attitude, which was that of the faithful and self-sacrificing parent with his children.
His feeling on this point is clearly shown by his own words in his farewell sermon to the congregation, February 23d, 1845. The text of the sermon was "Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem," and, in speaking of the "Peace of God which passeth all understanding," he said:
The fed flock goes forth from the sanctuary under the blessing of the Heavenly Father, pronounced by His author- ized servant. * And he, who pronounces this benediction, remembering in whose name and by whose authority he speaks, and reflecting on the redeemed of God in whose behalf he is acting, must have his soul deeply solemnized, and must feel it to be the desire of his heart that, when he shall be finally separated from his flock, he may leave the Church Militant,
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and deliver over to his Master his spiritual charge with this benediction on his heart and tongue .* * When I first came among you, I publicly told you that I came to serve you in the most momentous 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 cruci- fied.
In his letter to the vestry in 1842, asking for an assistant, he said:
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