CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY ANNA ALLEN WRIGHT LIBRARY ENDOWMENT FUND One Hundred Pears of Hethodism | at Hauppauge, L. J. March Thirteenth, 1806 March Thirteenth, 1906 wr wo oo ret ql _ = m 3 2 The Methodist Episcopal Church at Hauppauge: remodeled in 1895, ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF METHODISM AT HAUPPAUGE, L. I. MARCH 13th, 1806 MARCH 13th, 1906 THE KING PRESS BX 848 | H24 os8 The present pastor, Rev. Ralph Waldo Thompson The Methodist Episcopal Church At Hauppauge x N 1806 Long Island Circuit of the Methodist Episcopal Church was in the New York Conference, and the entire Island, outside of Brooklyn, was travelled over by the circuit preacher, who in that year was James Coleman. While Freeborn Garrettson was j presiding Elder, and there were but two bishops in all re the United States: Bishops Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury. The then village of Brooklyn had two preachers, as had the Long Island district, and the latter district, especially Sag Harbor with its great whaling interests, was considered as important as Brooklyn. Hauppange in 1806 contained several families who were religiously inclined, and, previous to this year, services were held whenever a travelling preacher came along. Sometimes in the little red school house, and sometimes at the house of some worthy brother. The Wheeler family seems to have led in religious matters, and regular meetings were held at the house of Jacob Wheeler, a part of whose house is still standing, occupied by the family of the late Henry Wills. At this house the neighbors gathered on Sunday and week evenings for prayer and religious instruction. At other times services were held in the school house, which stood first about on the lawn of Wallace Donaldson, but was later removed to the south side of the Country road, nearly opposite the Donaldson store. This little company of Methodists on March 13th, 1806, held a meeting at which was enacted a resolution which meant more for the betterment of society in the community than any similar action ever taken in Suffolk County. The following was adopted (the original document is in existence in a good state of preservation) : “*At a meeting of the male members of the Methodist Society of the Haupogues in Suffolk County, convened at the school house, agreeable to public notice, for the express purpose of incorporating and electing trustees for said society, on the thirteenth day of March, A. D. 1806. On motion, unanimously resolved, that Timothy Wheeler and Jacob Wheeler preside at this meeting and make return of the proceedings to the clerk of said County. On motion, unanimously resolved, that Isaac Nichols, Jacob Wheeler, Elkanah Wheeler, George Wheeler and Samuel Brush, Jun., be and they are hereby duly elected constituted and appoin- ted trustees, according to the form and effect of the statute of the State of New York, “entitled, an act to provide for the incor- poration of Religious Societies,’’ and that they, the said Isaac Nichols, Jacob Wheeler, Elkanah Wheeler, George Wheeler and Samuel Brush, Jun., and their successors in office, shall torever after be called, known and distinguished by the name and stile of “The Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church and Con- sregation of the Haupogues.,, We do hereby certify that the above is a true statement of the proceedings for incorporating the Methodist Episcopal Society of the Hauppauges in Suffolk County. As witness our hands and seals, this thirteenth day of March in the year of our Lord, eighteen hundred and six. TIMOTHY WHEELER, ISAAC WHEELER, L.S. JosHuA SMITH, JR. Returning Officers. ELKANAH WHEELER. The trustees proceeded immediately to class themselves when it appeared as followeth: ELKANAH WHEELER Ist Class SAMUEL BRusH, JUN. JAcop WHEELER 3d Class Issac NICHOLS On motion in the board of trustees, resolved unanimously, that Richard Wheeler be clerk and treasurer for said trustees.” On Friday, May 22, 1806, Rev. Mitchel B. Bull preached at 3 P. M. at the house of George Wheeler. On Saturday, May 23, he preached at the house of Samuel Brush, Sen., at Comac. On Sunday, May 24, he preached at the house of Jacob Wheeler GEORGE WHEELER 2nd Class at Hauppauge, and his diary says: “I preached at the meeting house,” (probably the school house) at 3 P. M. This seems to have been the great “three day meeting” as the farmers and their families gathered from miles around to hear the word from the circuit preacher, who brought them news of the world at large, as well as of the world to come. These gatherings later became known as “quarterly meetings,” at which the presiding elder often accompanied the circuit preacher. On these occasions whole families would congregate from Comac, Smithtown Landing, Great Pond, Stoney Brook, Drowned-Mead- ow and Islip. These quarterly meetings became famous especially in the Smithtown Circuit of which Hauppauge Church was the strongest in membership, and as the parsonage built in 1836, at a cost of $517.1214, was located here, it is fair to presume it was the centre of the circuit, Islip and Drowned-Meadow being the most remote villages on the list of charges. This parsonage was the preachers’ residence for many years. When changes came, the society sold it to Francis Adriance who lived there until his death. It is still standing and in possession of the family. In 1807 Luman Andrus was sent out by conference to the Long Island Circuit. He was followed successively by H. Redfield and Francis Ward, whose body with that of his son lies buried near the north end of the church in the burying ground. The grave of the first pastor of the church, the Rev. Francis Ward. : Died April 22, 1814, aged 39. At the burial, Francis Ward’s widow standing by the side of the open grave, exhorted the large company to prepare for death and judgement to come. Mrs. Ward later married John Arcularius, a noted N. Y. grocer, whose family still conduct the business. In 1810 the name of the circuit was changed to Suffolk, being now divided from Hempstead and the Western town. In 1811 Ezekiel Canfield, 1812 Samuel Bushnell, 1813 Francis Ward, a second time. In 1814 the circuit was renamed Suffolk and Sag Harbor with Charles W. Carpenter as preacher ; 1815, John Reynolds; 1817 and 1818, William Jewett; 1819, Samuel Cochran; 1820 and 1821, Reuben Harris; 1822 and 1823, Humphrey Humphries, Jacob Hall and William M. Willett; 1824, John W. LeFevre; 1826 and 1827, Cyrus Foss (the father of our beloved Bishop Cyrus D. Foss) who served one year with Noble W. Thomas. Then followed O. V. Ammerman and C. W. Carpenter in 1828 and Josiah Bowen in 1829 and 1830. In 1833 the circuit was narrowed down and named Smithtown Circuit. Continuing as such until 1879 when Lake Grove (formerly great pond) Hauppauge and Saint James were made a circuit with parsonage at Lake Grove, and Smith A. Sands as circuit preacher. Following Mr. Sands. were: Rev.’s John T. Langlois, Syl- vester Smith, John F. Duinkerke, James S. Haugh, E. J. Curtis, J. N. Crane, T. B. Cornell, Wm. N. Taft, Fred Gunton, Wm. N. Taft (a second time), H. E. Marsland, Fredk. .Buckwalter and R. W. Thompson in 1906. The present board of trustees are: B. F. Prince, Pres’t; Simeon Wood, Sec. and Tréasurer ; William Olivie, Wm. E. Hubbs, Lewis Abrams and I. B. Pedrick. Board of stewards: J. B. Pedrick, Mrs. Law Land, Mrs. Simeon Wood, Mrs. Lewis Abrams, Miss Kate Mosely, William Olivie. Supt. of Sunday School...... Benj. F. Prince Pres’t Epworth League...... O. G. Chichester Pres’t Junior League........ Mrs. Law Land Pres't Ladies Auxillary..Mrs. D. B. Gardiner Prest Cemetery Assn.....Wallace Donaldson While the circuit remained as Smithtown Circuit, its preachers were successively: J. Lovejoy, Francis Hill, Daniel Jones, Wm, K, Stopford, John B. Merwin, Bezaliel Howe, John ‘savoA AJIIY} IO} YONs se posn pur “gEgT UL IInq ‘eseuosIeg ISIPOYI{ 9U,L Nixon, Theron Osborn, Samuel W. King, Elbert Osborn, Nathan Rice, George Hollis and Ezra Jagger. In 1849 the New York East Conference having been formed, Smithtown became part of that Conference with preachers Eben S. Hebberd, Wm. Gothard, Joseph Wildey, Robert Codling, W. Wake, E. K. Fanning, D. F. Hallock, J. H. Stansbury, Charles Stearns, Benj. Redford and S. Kristeller, most of whom served two years. The period since 1880, with its joys and sorrows, its uplift- ings and downcastings, is still fresh in present day memory. Hauppauge has flourished spiritually and financially. Sev- eral bequests from old friends and members of the society have placed it in comfortable, if not independent, circumstances, with ample funds in its treasury to carry on the work of the fathers. The following is from a sketch by the late Isaac W. Blyden- burg: “In 1812 the Church was built on the present site. The ground being given by Joshua Smith. The sides and roof were covered with 3 foot shingles. For seats, slabs with legs on them and no back to lean against. Two doors in front. One for women and one for men. They had no fire. Women used to carry foot stoves. Tin box, with a frame around it, put a cup of coals with plenty of ashes in, and the women sat with their feet on that to keep warm. Women sat on the east side and men on the west until the early ’60s. In March, 1828, the church, which had for sixteen years remained unfinished in its interior, except for its high pulpit, level with the gallery and reached by a stairway, also the afore- mentioned slab seats, having become out of date, it was decided to plaster the inside walls and galleries. In 1861 the shingles, being storm worn, were removed and replaced with clapboard siding, and the window frames were extended full length to cover the gallery windows, as well as those below, and blinds were added which cost $300. In 1865 the church was comfortably reseated and a new pulpit with aisle carpet and box stoves to burn wood at a cost of $900. In 1895 the steeple was erected and church painted outside and inside costing $1050. In the same year a memorial window was placed behind the pulpit in memory of Mary J. Brush, who was a daughter of Elkanah Wheeler and who left a legacy to the church. Other liberal legacies have been received from estates of Owen West- lake and Frances Hoyt. Among the ancient belongings of the church is an old bible now in the Sunday School library in which is inscribed: “This bible belongs to the Methodist Meeting house at the Hauppaugs. A present from Caleb Smith, Esq., November, 1812.” The original hymn book is lost, but one of later date is inscribed “presented to the Methodist Episcopal Church, Hauppauge, L. I. by Mrs. Dr. Nichols, Jan. Ist, 1868.” The original collection box, inscribed “Box for taking collec- tion in the church in Hauppogue, L. I., 1807,” has also been secured from a collection of relics belonging to Wesley J. Wheeler of Islip, L. I., who is a grand son of Elkanah Wheeler, one of the founders. This box is a simple home-made affair, but its age and gen- uineness is apparent from its inscription and its time-stained appearanice. The One Hundredth Anniversary of this church recalls some amusing incidents. The singing in the church was congregational. A leader setting the tune by tuning fork and the accompaning do-re-sol-do, but in the late 40s some of the singers thought they should have instrumental music. So on a fine Sunday afternoon the congre- gation were startled by the rasping of bow and. strings in the gallery... Many heads were shaken with disapproval of this “Devil Music” and after a few Sundays’ trial the bass-viol and fiddle were abandoned and a return made to the leader and his tuning fork. The earliest musical instrument after this experiment was a rather wheezy melodian which did duty till it was later replaced by an organ, which has led the singing successfully through many storms and difficulties. This history would hardly be complete were it not in some way to call attention to the large burial ground where lie the dust of generations. Previous to the time when Judge Smith gave the plot of ground on which the church stands, each land owner had his own burial plot in some corner of his farm where ‘y]INq e1aM speys YOMYD oy} [UN Yons se posn pue sasIoy IOF aovd SurlA} 9Y} Ioj epeys B se yWES enysof e8pn{ oe] oy} Aq padArosar ‘YOINYD oy} Iv9U syeO OUT his family and those of his neighbors who had no burial place were interred. About 1845 the trustees of the society became aware that the church grounds were fast being filled up and more ground would be required. Judge Smith, who had donated the ground for the Church yard, having died, his son, Joshua B. Smith, had come into ownership, and following his father’s example gave the trustees the land in the rear to the top of the hill, thereby enlarging the plot to its present bounds. A subscription list for building a substantial fence around the new grounds was made in this year amounting to $50. In this subscription paper suitable mention was made of the gift from Mr. Smith. The Joshua Smith family were Presbyterians and belonged to the Smith- town Church, but were always friendly to the Methodists, and besides the gifts of land hardly a subscription list was passed around that did not contain the name of this generous friend in its subscribers. The Methodist Circuit rider found a warm welcome at this Presbyterian fireside. The old judge enjoyed the prayers and exhortations of the Methodist parson and was a frequent visitor to the Methodist service. So solicitous was Judge Smith for the welfare of the society that he caused the fence along the highway to be moved back so that horses could be tied in the shade of that noble row of old oaks to the west of the church yard, and when the property was sold this reservation was made for all time. For sixty years these oaks were the only sheds the church goers’ animals had, and although no longer used for that purpose, the row of oaks still vigorously stand stretching out their protecting branches to recall the time when poverty forbade the luxury of horse sheds, and as a living monument to him whose thoughtfullness placed them to the use of the public. Romantically considered, if trees could talk, they would tell of the ardent but youthful swains, momentous question, ‘““May I see you home?” followed by that embarrasing interval, till maiden fair gave the desired consent. When he proceeded to put the precepts of the Church in practice in his endeavor to ‘love his neighbor as himself,” and escort her to the parental front gate. When the Smith farm was about to pass out of the hands of the family, the remains of those members of the family who had been buried in the plot on the farm were disinterred and placed in a plot in the northeast corner of the new church burial ground. The funerals of that day were simple in the extreme, but were made occasions when the entire neighborhood turned out, and not a farmer who owned a vehicle failed to bring along his less fortunate neighbor to join the procession, which in many instances was half a mile in length. The “Old Ark” of some farmers could comfortably carry a dozen, three on a seat. The wagons were without springs. In this manner the mourning family were escorted to the church yard. The coffin (there were no caskets in those days) was usually made by some carpenter who with steaming box and stain made up a good enough coffin. The cost of the whole outfit being within five dolars.