USA > New York > Dutchess County > Poughkeepsie > The records of Christ church, Poughkeepsie, New York, Vol I > Part 8
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Valentine Baker, one of the largest taxpayers in Pough- keepsie, and Levi McKeen, a banker, whose house was approached by a lane leading from Main street to his garden gate, which lane thereby came to be called Garden street.
It has been mentioned earlier in this chapter that in 1795 a petition for financial help was sent by Christ Church to Trinity Corporation. Although the vestry in New York voted favorably upon this petition not long after it was presented, it was three years before their gift of £500.0.0 was received by Christ Church, and, when it came, it was in the form of a mortgage on No. 51 Chapel street, New York City. Attached to the gift was the express condition that the money should be used for a glebe or parsonage, which was in accordance with the policy Trinity then followed. The donation to Christ Church was one of a large number made to congregations in New York State just at that time for that purpose, and herein lies the explanation of the failure of the first request for aid made by Christ Church, which had suggested that a mortgage against the glebe at Poughkeepsie should be taken and held by Trinity.
When the vestry of Christ Church offered their thanks for this timely assistance they added: "the good effects to be derived from this gratuity, under the smiles of Divine providence, will, we trust, be transmitted to the Church of which we are members, for ages to come. Suitable donations, to such churches in the country as are proper objects, is a measure which will increase . their prosperity beyond all calculation, and will aid them to support their pastors in a manner more congenial with their feelings, a thing devoutly to be wished for."
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Names of Pewholders 1785-1798
The pews were sold annually, at auction, except during vacan- cies in the Rectorship. The individuals, whose names are here given, did not all buy pews every year, but the list includes all those who did purchase from 1785 to 1798:
A. John Addison; Henry Ames.
B. Ebenezer Badger; Theodorus Bailey; William Bailey; Valentine Baker; Isaac Baldin Jr .; William Baldin; Isaac Balding Sr .; Isaac Balding; William Barber; Egbert Benson; Henry Benson; Andrew Billings; James Bram- ble.
C. Harry Caldwell; Caleb Carman; Francois Chandonet; Cadwallader D. Colden; John Cooke; James Cooper; Samuel Cooper; John Crooke.
D. John Davis; Richard Davis; Richard DeCantillon; Lewis DuBois; Mrs. DuBois; Daniel Duffee; Charles H. Duncan; Andrew Dunn; John Dunn; Abram T. Duryea; John Dusenbury.
E. William Emott; Richard Everitt.
F. John I. Ferdon; John Z. Ferdon; Zachariah Ferdon: ( ? ) Field.
G. Robert Gill; John Gullon; Abel Gunn.
H. Charles Hay; Udney Hay; Stephen Hendricksen; An- thony Hoffman; Stephen A. Hopkins.
I. Duncan Ingraham.
K. Jonas Kelcey; William Kettletas; Benjamin Knower.
L. Daniel Lefferts; John Le Roy; Gilbert Livingston; Hen- ry Livingston Sr .; William Louder.
M. Silas Marsh Jr .; Levi Mckean; Peter Mesier; James Mills; Thomas Mitchell; Henry Mott; John Mott; Samuel Mott.
N. Robert Noxon.
P. Samuel Pinkney; Charles Platt; Thomas Poole; Nicho- las Power; John Price; James Pritchard.
R. John Reade; Ezekiel Roe; Eliza Rogers; Mathew Roth- ery; Asa Rutza; Henry Rutzer.
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S. Abel Smith; Daniel Smith; Israel Smith; James S. Smith; John Smith; "Capt. Samuel Smith of Poughkeep- sie;" Archibald Stewart.
T. John Tappen; Peter Tappen; Tunis Tappen; John Thomas; Robert Thorne; Asahal Thrasher; George Turnbull.
V. Elias Van Bunschoten; John E. Van Bunschoten; Jane Van Kleeck; Myndert Van Kleeck; John P. Vemont; Samuel Verplanck.
W. Richard Warner; Robert Williams; John Wilson; Me- lancthon L. Woolsey.
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CHAPTER V
1798-1810
THE PURCHASE OF A PARSONAGE. THE RECTORATE OF THE
REV. PHILANDER CHASE. THE ORGANIZATION OF ST. PETER'S CHURCH, LITHGOW. THE PARISH REGISTER. DIOCESAN CONVENTION HELD IN CHRIST CHURCH. THE
RECTORATE OF THE REV. BARZILLAI BULKLEY.
THE
SETTLEMENT WITH THE REV. JOHN BEARDSLEY. IM- PROVEMENTS TO THE INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH.' THE PURCHASE OF AN ORGAN. NAMES OF PEWHOLDERS, 1800-1809.
I T has been stated that the gift of Trinity Corporation to Christ Church was made in the form of a mort- gage on New York City real estate. More ac- curately, the £500 donated was composed of the prin- cipal of the mortgage (£341.5.0), eight months interest due (£15.18.6), and £142.16.6 in cash. The bond and mortgage and the currency were received on June 25th, 1798, and the vestry decided to try to convert the mortgage into ready money in order to be able to pay promptly for the new parsonage which this gift was intended to provide. Some difficulty was encountered in getting the mortgage paid off, and, while the attempt to collect it dragged along, they discussed whether it would be wiser to build a house themselves, or to buy one.
The first proposition so far prevailed in the beginning that the necessary building materials were purchased, and the location of the proposed house considered; one plan was to acquire a lot on Church street, then
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newly opened and plotted, which would have been con- veniently near the church building; another, which William Emott recommended, was to build upon the twenty-three acre lot, but that was objected to because Mr. Beardsley had never ceased to press his claim to the land since his removal to New Brunswick.
Mr. Emott made a long report to the vestry in Febru- ary, 1799, containing the arguments for and against these two suggestions, his conclusion being that, whether a house were bought or built, one should be in readiness for a clergyman by May 1st, 1800, for, said he, naïvely, "the interest of the Church requires an attempt to be made for the Settelment of a Discreet pious Clergyman of an unblemished Reputation. Such a character, by proper industry, and attention to the poor as well as the more opulent, would have a tendency to Collect our scattered flock and dissipate that Lukewarmness and infidelity which prevail in the minds of many, and, under the smiles of providence would increase our numbers, Respectability, and Resources. To accomplish this desireable purpose, great exertions must be made by the hearty friends of the Church among us by their personal services and liberal contributions. I take it, that, to ensure a probability of obtaining a suitable Minister, we ought to be enabled to offer him a Salary of £180 per year and a parsonage house and lot of £40, amount- ing to £220."
In the spring of 1799 opinion veered from the plan to build to that of buying, and, on June 4th, John Davis, William Davies and William Emott were ap- pointed a committee "to confer with Mr. William Smith respecting purchasing his house for a parsonage house,- and if the house will answer, and they can agree upon
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a price, they are authorized to purchase the farm for that purpose."
William Smith had bought his house and lot "opposite the Academy" on May 18th, 1796, subject to a mort- gage for £150. The house being favorably considered by the vestry, they ordered the building materials they had bought to be sold, and this property to be acquired. Richard Davis loaned £150 and William Davies £50 to accomplish the purchase, and on August 1st, 1799, the Church came into possession of the house which is still standing on the southeast corner of Academy and Cannon streets. The consideration named in the deed1 was $1,250.00, and the original mortgage,2 executed by William Smith, bears an endorsement that on October 14th, 1800, the principal and interest were paid in full by William Emott, treasurer of Christ Church. The cancellation of the mortgage was made possible by the collection on September 13th, preceding, of $967.50 on Trinity's donation.
In the correspondence regarding its gift to Christ Church, Trinity Corporation had been represented by Andrew Hammersley, a vestryman, who, when he made over the money and securities, delivered himself of the following delicious bit: "Your next view is, I sopose, a Minister; my opinion is, if he is a Man of real piety he will be a great advantage to your Church & if he lacks that Qualification he will be a great hurt; he ought to be one who understands his business also."
To procure this paragon of piety and practicality was the next task of the vestry. After the departure of the Rev. John Johnson Sayrs, the fourth Rector, it had been
1 Dutchess County Clerk's records, deeds, Liber 16, p. 64.
2 Christ Church Parish Mss., Parsonage Papers, No. 8.
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voted that the church should be opened on Sundays, and service conducted each week by the members of the vestry in rotation; a committee was also appointed to confer with a Fishkill committee in regard to the vacant Rectorship. On April 4th, 1799, Messrs. John Davis, John Reade and Stephen Hoyt were appointed a com- mittee "to engage a Clergyman," and in the course of the summer two candidates applied, upon neither of whom was an agreement reached by the two parishes. By autumn the name of Philander Chase was under con- sideration; when, or by whom, he was first mentioned does not appear, but a letter written by Peter Mesier to Stephen Hoyt, secretary of the vestry of Christ Church, in favor of a proposal that had been made to call Mr. Chase, is of interest in its disclosure of the reputation the latter had already achieved in the Church, although he had been in Deacon's Orders but a little over a year. Mr. Chase had been doing the work of an itinerant minis- ter in the towns of central and western New York, and had thrown himself into his duties with all the vigor of his youth and the natural fervor of his temperament. He was New Hampshire born, a graduate of Dartmouth, and was not yet twenty-four years old.
Fishkill October 19, 1799.
Sir
The committee appointed by the Vestry of this place for the purpose of procuring a Rector have, in consequence of your letter, had a meeting.
We are highly pleased to discover that there exists in your Vestry a determination to give so respectable a salary, and will most willingly contribute our proportion as stipulated in your letter, provided the Character fixed on pleases our Congrega- tion.
Without making any comments upon either Mr. Van Horn or Mr. Chase, or contrasting their reputations as preachers in
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THE PARSONAGE
Purchased 1799 Sold 1852 Occupied by the Rev. Philander Chase, the Rev. Barzillai Bulkley and the Rev. Dr. John Reed
The Records of Christ Church
the least, we are decidedly of opinion that the latter Gentle- man obtains greatly the preference here, and will most cor- dially concur with you in procuring him as Rector.
We presume that the establishment of Mr. Chase in this Congregation will be of a very considerable advantage to the Church, especially as the members calculate upon a Consider- able accession, provided the preacher is a man of his merits.
The difficulty which prevents his accepting at present, de- cidedly, a Call here, you are acquainted with; and we enter- tain from his representation of the circumstances that a little negotiation will remove every obstacle.
No inconvenience can possibly arise from making the at- tempt, except a trifling delay, and the obtaining ultimately so valuable a Rector, and one so universally esteemed is, in our estimation, an object worth the experiment.
The particular conduct to be adopted, and the manner in which the wished for event may be brought to pass, we will most willingly communicate, provided you will relinquish Mr. Van Horn, and concur with us in measures calculated to pro- mote the interest and welfare of both Congregations.
I am with Respect
Sir your most Obed't
Peter Mesier.
The difficulty to which this letter refers lay in an engagement that Mr. Chase had entered into with St. Peter's Church at Stamford in Delaware County, New York; he was anxious to come to Poughkeepsie, and ready to do so if this previous arrangement could be given up, and, in a letter addressed to Stephen Hoyt, he replied to the call extended to him by the Poughkeepsie and Fishkill Churches in a characteristically enthusiastic manner:
Dear Sir
I received yours of the 28th of October, yesterday. I de- clare to you that I feel myself highly honored by the proposals made to me by the Vestry in Poughkeepsie; but as to a speedy answer, you Sir, and all, know that it must depend on the suc- cess of the favorite Project. If this could be brought about to
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the satisfaction of all parties, my consent to reside in Pough- keepsie, and be the Rector of the Church there, would be most. cordially given.
I feel myself immensely attached to the good people in Fishkill, and if possible still more to those who live in the hap- py Village of Poughkeepsie. May God bless them all ! ! I wait the event.
I have seen Mr. T-y, your worthy friend. Mr. P-r, all last evening, was with me here at Mr. Mesier's, & you may, without the assistance of magic power, give a guess how the time was spent.
The latter part of your Epistle contains my-I had almost said Death warrant-'That I shall forfeit the esteem of the people at P -. if I do not preach there next Sunday.'
I plead in behalf of my own life that a previous appoint- ment with the Bishop renders it impossible. Next Thursday I am to be in York, ready for an examination, and, if found worthy, H- Orders will on the Sunday following be conferred on me.
For your family's kind respects to me please to return my hearty thanks, and make my love to them all. Their affec- tionate treatment to me, are they not written in my heart? I wish we had been acquainted more with each other-I have every (reason) to suppose that I should (have) been highly hon'd & gratified.
The answer to the Call-it will be given as soon as possible. Mr. P-r and you possess all the information that is necessary on the subject. Act your pleasure God speed the happy time is the Prayer of one who loves you all .-
Philander Chase.
Nov'r 4th 1799
Capt. Hoyt.
"Mr. P.", of whom Mr. Chase speaks, was Joseph Parker of Poughkeepsie, who was sent to Stamford as the business agent of the vestry of Christ Church to obtain a release for Mr. Chase from his obligation to St. Peter's. Parker gained the consent of the vestry of St. Peter's to Mr. Chase's acceptance of the call to Poughkeepsie and Fishkill, on condition that they be paid one hundred
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dollars, in four quarterly installments of twenty-five dollars each, the last payment to be due in March, 1801. The papers in this transaction are all on file, and show that Christ Church agreed to the condition and paid the bonus as required.
Mr. Chase, having been advanced to the Priesthood by Bishop Provoost in New York on November 10th, formally accepted his call on November 22d:
Sir
In answer to your letter of the 28th of October, written to me in behalf of the Vestries of Christs Church at Poughkeepsie and Trinity Church at Fishkill, I can now inform you that I accept of the Call to the Rectory of the two Churches with my hearty thanks for their kind attention to me.
I am now ready to wait on them, when and where they shall appoint, to interchange such articles of agreement as shall be thought proper ;- and then to take Charge of the Church in due form.
I am, with esteem, & friend- ship, yours and the Vestries
Poughkeepsie
most obedient and
Novem'r 22nd
very humble
AD. 1799 servant
To Stephen Hoyt, Philander Chase.
Agent for the Churches at
Poughkeepsie & Fishkill.
Articles of agreement were signed on November 27th, 1799, whereby Mr. Chase was given the use of the par- sonage, and was to receive $300.00 a year from Christ Church and $200.00 from Trinity; in return he was to officiate two-thirds of the time at Poughkeepsie and one- third at Fishkill.
The connection of Philander Chase with this parish was meteoric. His stay was brief, his ministration distinc- tive, it left few permanent traces; but it stands out in the life-story of Christ Church with brilliancy and clearness.
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Chase was a vivid personality, and on fire with enthusi- asm for his calling; so much so that, in contact with his ardent spirit, old measures, old conditions, were clothed in new and vital light; so much so, too, that, truth to tell, he overshadowed all other personalities, and domi- nated and absorbed the wills of those about him. It may be attributable to this cause that so strong a man left no more lasting an impression upon the character of Christ Church. His intensity swept all before it, and attained whatever object he, himself, aimed for; but there was no room left for the cooperation of the laity. An instance of this is found in an entry in the treasurer's ledger, in the statement of the personal account of Richard Davis, that "Mr. Davis, having, in the year 1801, disagreed with Mr. Chase, and not having afterwards attended divine service," &c, &c. Here were two positive natures, the man of sixty-seven, and the youth of twenty-six; the former, for a period equalling the latter's whole life time, had given of self, of time, of money, to the parish, and the latter, a mere stripling as he must have seemed to Davis, was newly come into the Church. And yet the stripling remained in possession of the field! The incident is both humorous and pathetic, and, in its practical result, may be taken as an indication of the passing of the lay influence, which, for a generation, had controlled parochial affairs.
The presence of Mr. Chase made itself felt in ways the people were unfamiliar with. Arriving, as he did, at a moment when the debt on the church building was paid, a new parsonage acquired, and all causes of difference with Trinity Church, Fishkill, removed, it was possible for him to institute some of the charitable work in which his warm heart delighted. He made a great point of the
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-
THE REV. PHILANDER CHASE RECTOR OF CHRIST CHURCH, 1799-1805 From a miniature painted on ivory about 1798
The Records of Christ Church
disposition of the Communion alms, and rendered full account of his use of them; typical of his work and of his fervid style of expression is this entry: "for Mr. Bulmer, being a man far gone in a deep decline, having a large family of small children." Some of the alms were given at private Communions, of which there is no men- tion in the parish before this time. In 1803 a disastrous fire occurred in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and he immediately opened a subscription for the relief of the sufferers, succeeding in collecting a respectable sum for them.
His missionary zeal overflowed the boundaries of his fixed charge, and, in 1801, he gave public notice1 in the town of Washington, Dutchess County, that, on May 12th, a meeting would be held near Lithgow to consider the organization of a parish there. The meeting took place, Mr. Chase acting as clerk, and a vestry was elected, two of its members being Ebenezer Mott and William Terry, men who had been affiliated with Christ Church for many years. It is reasonable to suppose that this little group of Episcopalians in the town of Washington might be traced in their origin to the influence of that Nine Partners congregation in the same vicinity, which was part of Mr. Seabury's and Mr. Beardsley's pastoral charge. The parish at Lithgow, named St. Peter's, was incorporated May 15th, 1801,2 and is still in existence, though outgrown by its daughter, Grace Church, Millbrook. Mr. Chase asked the consent of the Poughkeepsie and Fishkill Churches for his absence from them four Sundays a year to hold
1 Parish records of St. Peter's Church, Lithgow, N. Y.
2 Dutchess County Clerk's records, Book of Incorporation of Churches, p. 36.
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service at Lithgow, and also for time in which to minister in the town of Franklin,1 where a parochial organization had been effected in 1796.2
December 20th, 1800, the Vestry Minutes record that "the Rev. Mr. Chase laid before the Vestry a letter from a Committee of the Vestry of St. Mark's Church in New York, giving him a Call to the Rector- ship of the Church with a salary of $1,000.00 per year. On which the Vestry, on mature deliberation, are of opinion that the proposed salary of $1,000.00 would not materially advance the pecuniary advantage of Mr. Chase, and that his removal from the Parish of Pough- keepsie at this time would essentially injure the progress and growth of our Church, as no one of the Congrega- tion but holds Mr. Chase in the highest estimation, and that considers that his removal would be destructive of the Interest of the Episcopal Church in this place and, in effect, destroy its present flourishing state. Therefore, Resolved, that the Vestry, upon the foregoing reasons cannot think of discharging the Rev. Mr. Chase from his engagements with this Congregation, on the terms offered in the Resolution of the Vestry of St. Mark's Church in New York, dated 12th December, 1800. And that the Secretary do furnish the Rev. Mr. Chase with a copy of the above proceedings to be transmitted to the Vestry of St. Mark's." Apparently Mr. Chase concurred in the opinion of the vestry, for no more is heard of the call to St. Mark's.
On November 16th, 1801, it was decided "to open Church and commence Divine Service from October 1st
1 Now the town of Patterson, in Putnam County.
2 Christ Church, Patterson. Dutchess County Clerk's records, Book of Incorporation of Churches, p. 30.
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to April 1st at 11 o'clock in the morning, and at quarter past two in the afternoon. And from April 1st to Octo- ber 1st at half past ten in the morning and at 3 o'clock in the afternoon." The early hour for the afternoon service presumably accommodated those of the congrega- tion who drove to Church in the morning from some distance, and wished to return in good season after an all day's absence from home. Mr. Chase's policy included a careful oversight of his flock and its needs, indeed one of the most lasting features of his rectorate was his thorough investigation of the number and condition of the families in the parish when he entered it. In the Bibliography forming part of the Appendix to this vol- ume may be found his own account of his discovery of how imperfect was the parish register, and of his labor to bring the same up to date. In September, 1801, he began the compilation of a record of the statistics of the families then in Christ Church, which, perhaps, is in- complete, but is still of much importance:
Heads of Families
Ebenezer Badger
Samuel Johnson
Ebenezer Baldwin
John Johnston
Andrew Billings
Mrs. Helen Mckean
Jabez Bosworth
Peter B. Morgan
William Broome
Robert Noxon
Matthew Caldwell
James Pritchard
John Cooke
John Reade
William Davies
Henry Relay
John Davis
Lewis Relay
Leonard Davis
John Sayers
Richard Davis
Granville Smith
William Emott
Peter Van Bommell
Mrs. Andrew Heermance
John Peter Vemont
Mrs. Anthony Hoffman Stephen Hoyt
Robert Williams
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Single Persons
Miss Polly Cooke Mrs. Sarah Hay Maria Hay
Miss Elizabeth Lamson
Mr. Archibald Stewart
Mr. Alexander Stewart
Only eight of these names are on the list reported in 1791 by the vestry to Bishop Provoost, and the appear- ance of other family names on the parish register, and among the pewholders, leads to the conclusion that there were oversights both in 1791 and 1801.
Some valuable accessions to the membership of the parish were made, however, just about the period of the incumbency of Mr. Chase. One, directly traceable to his influence, was that of Thomas J. Oakley, baptized as an adult, by Mr. Chase, and long a pewholder and ves- tryman in Christ Church. Mr. Oakley's public career included service as Surrogate of Dutchess, member of Assembly, member of Congress, Attorney-General of New York, and Judge of the Superior Court, New York City. His double brick house on Market street, en- larged and added to, has become the present News-Press Building.
David Brooks, who had been one of the original vestry appointed by the charter of 1773, and who had soon after left Poughkeepsie to perform active duty as a staff officer in the Revolutionary Army, in close associa- tion with General Washington, had now returned to Poughkeepsie, and resumed his parochial ties in the successive capacities of pewholder, vestryman and warden, also making a good name for himself in the Assembly and in Congress and as County Judge.
William Davies, son of the Rev. Thomas Davies (then late Rector of St. Michael's, Litchfield, Connecti- cut), settled in Poughkeepsie shortly before 1800. It
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is quite possible he was the "William Davis" who rented the glebe-house for sixteen months in 1793-1795, as John Davis of Poughkeepsie had no children, and his brother, Richard, no son named William; but this is surmise, only. William Davies was a devout Church- man by inheritance, and all the years of his long life in Poughkeepsie- he lived to be ninety-four years old- was a faithful member of Christ Church. His first election to the vestry was in 1799, and from 1826 to 1842 he was a warden of the parish. Mr. Davies dealt extensively in Poughkeepsie real estate and acquired a large property, always being a generous contributor to the Church. The writer has been told, by one who was a boy1 here in 1820, that Mr. Davies then occupied a pew in the church to the south of the chancel and at right angles to the rest of the congregation, and that he wore a six-inch queue.
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