Wh
 
 CHARLES MONROE COFFIN 
 HIS BOOK 
 
 ?& 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES

 
 Trinity Church 
 
 Edited by 
 Mary E. Mixer 
 
 
 
 ^fiBSJojonSw^ 
 
 The Peter Paul Book Company 
 Buffalo, New York 
 
 MDCCCXCVII
 
 Copyrighted in the year 1897 
 
 by 
 
 Mary E. Mixer 
 
 qj^S&itoJHteF- 
 
 Printed and bound in the year 1897 
 by The Peter Paul Book Company, 
 in Buffalo, New York.
 
 TO THE 
 
 (Ehittott rrf Tritritg Parish 
 
 THE FUTURE WARDENS AND 
 VESTRYMEN OF THE 
 CHURCH, 
 HEIRS TO A NOBLE INHERITANCE, 
 THIS BOOK IS DEDI- 
 CATED 
 
 
 31
 
 Editor's Note 
 
 The designs of the cover and title-page were drawn 
 by Miss Elise Devereux, artist. 
 
 In the arduous work of compiling and printing the 
 history, several errors were unfortunately overlooked 
 until too late to correct them. 
 
 On page 36, the name of Mr. Corneille R. Ganson is 
 wrongly given as " Cornelius R. Ganson." 
 
 On page 41, Doctor and Mrs. Thomas F. Rochester 
 are referred to as coming from Geneva, which was the 
 early home of Mrs. Rochester. They removed to Buffalo 
 from Rochester, which city was named for the doctor's 
 family. 
 
 On page 103, "Mr. Horatio H. Seymour" should be 
 "Mr. Henry H. Seymour"; and on page 107, "Mrs. 
 Horatio H. Seymour" should be "Mr. Henry H. Sey- 
 mour."
 
 Preface 
 
 IN the experience of all large cities it is found that old 
 landmarks, prominent citizens, and important events 
 are apt to be passed over in the progress of time, 
 their places filled, their monuments razed to the ground 
 to make way for those of a new generation. 
 
 The important part played in the prosperity and 
 growth of such cities by the early builders thereof is 
 seldom remembered by those who tread the paths made 
 easy for them and live in happiness and peace beneath 
 the spreading branches of trees whose shade measures 
 the passing of one or two generations. 
 
 As a rule, the pioneers of all such settlements are 
 men of mark, sometimes of wealth and position; and 
 their opinions, their laws and customs, insensibly influ- 
 ence their successors for all time. Observe in New York 
 city, Albany, and other portions of our state, how the 
 Knickerbocker presence of early days is still felt in the 
 land; how in Detroit, Michigan, social customs, local 
 laws, and the very manners of the citizens bespeak their 
 French origin. So we might go on, from section to sec- 
 tion of our great country, tracing by their present cus- 
 toms and laws the influences that laid the foundations 
 of their cities and of their forms of government; and 
 Buffalo, though not the most important of our cities, 
 can boast an honorable heritage, for her first citizens 
 were men of brains and men of mark. 
 
 In 1679 Father Hennepin and his small band of 
 explorers, under the leadership of La Salle, with much
 
 vi Preface 
 
 labor carried the material for a small vessel over the port- 
 age at Niagara River, and climbed the heights of Lewis- 
 ton. They toiled slowly on their way over snowy plains 
 and through gloomy forests, till they came at last to a 
 small stream which entered the Niagara two leagues 
 above the cataract — undoubtedly Cayuga Creek. There 
 they built the vessel for which they had brought the 
 materials, and launched the " Griffin " in the spring, 
 under many difficulties, caused by the rapids in the 
 river. At length the small vessel of sixty tons, armed 
 with seven guns, all of which had been transported by 
 land around the cataract, sailed away on our great inland 
 sea, to the singing of the Te Dcum and the roaring of 
 cannon. It bore as a part of its crew the intrepid La 
 Salle, a blue-eyed, ringleted cavalier, fitted to grace the 
 salons of Paris, yet eagerly pressing forward to dare the 
 hardships of unknown seas and savage lands. 
 
 Tonti, exiled from his native Italy by revolution, the 
 second in command, was a man of unswerving courage 
 and devoted loyalty. Father Hennepin, the early histo- 
 rian of this region, was one of the most zealous of all 
 that band of Roman priests who bore the cross to the 
 fiercest pagans of the New World, and laid down their 
 lives with the martyr's courage in the dense primeval 
 forests. 
 
 Have not these men left their mark on our border- 
 land ? And are not our hearts still thrilled by the stories 
 of their faith and courage ? 
 
 Then, as years went on, and the dispute of French 
 and English for supremacy resulted in the Battle of 
 Niagara, the site of old Fort Porter and its vis-a-vis, 
 Fort Erie, became the battlefield of the two nations.
 
 Preface vii 
 
 Grand and Navy islands were in the midst of the fray. 
 An arm of the river separating Buckhorn Island from 
 Grand Island still bears the name of " Burnt Ship Bay." 
 
 To come down to modern times : the old ferry at 
 Black Rock was quite a noted point in 1814. It was 
 first chosen as the most favorable site for the settlement. 
 A great salt exchange was established there, at which 
 traders from even as far as Pittsburg assembled. Fort 
 Erie, on the opposite side of the river, whose foundations 
 were laid in 1 791, is described by the Duke of Liancourt 
 in 1795 as a very rude collection of buildings. 
 
 In 1800 Augustus Porter, of Canandaigua, had a 
 contract for carrying the mail to Niagara. Doctor 
 Dwight, then president of Yale College, mentions this 
 ferry in his " Journey through the State of New York." 
 In the same summer Gouverneur Morris passed that 
 way. In 18 14 came the famous struggle at Fort Erie, 
 where generals Brown and Porter covered themselves 
 with glory. Colonel William A. Bird's house and 
 grounds then, as now, commanded a full view of the 
 battlefield. Mr. Thomas C. Love, then a student at law, 
 was wounded in that engagement, and was transferred to 
 Quebec, where for six months he was held as a prisoner 
 of war, suffering very great privations. The kindly min- 
 istrations of a young married couple resident in Quebec 
 greatly alleviated his hardships, and won his lifelong 
 gratitude. Years after, this couple came from Canada to 
 take up their residence in Buffalo, and succeeding gen- 
 erations will revere the memory of Jesse Ketchum and 
 his wife. 
 
 This hurried glimpse into the past is only given to 
 claim the point that the past history of Buffalo is worth
 
 viii Preface 
 
 knowing ; that in war, in civil life, in government annals, 
 in church history, we can cite great names as our herit- 
 age. 
 
 A noble building, occupying the central block of our 
 city, perpetuates the name of the man* who laid out 
 the primitive town, and whose brother was one of the 
 engineers who surveyed the city of Washington. 
 
 Not to delve too deep into history, we can point to 
 the beautiful church opposite as the pioneer church of 
 the city, of which Mr. Samuel M. Welch, in his most 
 admirable book, " Recollections of Buffalo," says, " What 
 old or young citizen, who is imbued with sufficient sen- 
 timent to have gathered an affection for inanimate things, 
 does not look on this particular church as an alma mater 
 in things spiritual for the entire community? " 
 
 Dear Doctor Shelton ! the brave pioneer of the church 
 in western New York, the noble champion of the truth 
 of her doctrines, and in his life and practice a glorious 
 example of the fruit of her teachings ! The brusque 
 honesty of his manner was tempered by the tenderness 
 of his sympathy; and when our dear Bishop Coxe chose 
 as the text of his memorial sermon, " Behold now, there 
 is in this city a man of God, and he is an honorable 
 man" (I. Samuel 9: 6), he simply repeated what had 
 been the sentiment of the citizens of Buffalo generally 
 with reference to the revered rector of Saint Paul's. 
 
 How proudly can we recall the eloquence of the 
 many different clergymen who have filled with honor the 
 pulpits of our churches ! How honored are we to 
 enroll as citizens of Buffalo names which have echoed 
 round the world as rulers of our country, as jurists of 
 
 'Joseph Ellicott.
 
 Preface ix 
 
 unquestionable repute, as physicians whose very names 
 give authority to anything they have said or written ! 
 Therefore it is that the children of this generation should 
 not be ignorant of their honorable past ; that, as the 
 landmarks pass away, the spots whereon they stood may 
 still be held sacred, and the memory kept green of those 
 whose names are indissolubly linked with them. 
 
 To keep this heritage in mind, to recall to the next 
 generation many facts which they may not otherwise 
 remember, is the object of our present writing. We wish 
 to impress on the minds of the younger members of 
 Trinity Church the recollection of the bishops, rectors, 
 and vestries, whose names have made memorable its 
 records and whose very presence in its pulpits and pews 
 has been a precious benison, who have bestowed dignity 
 and honor on its name, who are linked in all the various 
 walks and professions of life with the greatness, growth, 
 and prosperity of our city. 
 
 The editor wishes to acknowledge her indebtedness 
 to Our Church Work for a large portion of the article on 
 Bishop Coxe. Extracts from many other sources have 
 been made use of in compiling the work, but it did not 
 seem possible to make an acknowledgment in each case.
 
 Contents 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Preface, v 
 
 List of Illustrations, ..... xiii 
 
 Saint Paul's Cathedral — the Mother 
 
 of Trinity Parish, . . Compiled i 
 
 The Beginning of Trinity Church, 
 
 Anna Maude Hoxsie 3 
 
 Bishop De Lancey, Mrs. Charles B. Wheeler 1 5 
 
 Reverend Edward Ingersoll, . Compiled 21 
 
 Bishop Coxe, .... Compiled 51 
 
 Consolidation of Christ Church with 
 
 Trinity, . . . Mrs. A. P. Nichols 65 
 
 Reverend Libertus Van Bokkelen, Compiled 69 
 
 An Easter Day Service, " Buffalo Courier " 83 
 
 Reverend Francis Lobdell, 
 
 Anniversary Sermon 87 
 
 Bishop Walker, . " Our Church Work " 101 
 
 Trinity Cooperative Relief Society, 
 
 Emily Sibley Ganson 103 
 
 Wardens and Vestrymen, 115 
 
 Memorial Gifts, 125
 
 Illustrations 
 
 New Trinity, 
 
 William Shelton, .... 
 Cicero Stephens Hawks, 
 William Heathcote De Lancey, 
 Edward Ingersoll, 1844, 
 Edward Ingersoll, 1875,. 
 Arthur Cleveland Coxe, 1866, 
 Arthur Cleveland Coxe, 1888, 
 Christ Church, as originally designed, 
 Libertus Van Bokkelen, . 
 
 Old Trinity, 
 
 Francis Lobdell, .... 
 William D. Walker, 
 
 frontispiece 
 facing page 1 
 
 3 
 
 15 
 21 
 
 45 
 51 
 
 55 
 65 
 69 
 83 
 S7 
 101
 
 History of Trinity Church
 
 William Shclton
 
 History of Trinity Church 
 
 Saint Paul's Cathedral — the Mother 
 of Trinity Parish 
 
 THE organization of Saint Paul's Parish took place 
 at the house of Elias Ransom, in the then village 
 of Buffalo, February ioth, 1817. The Reverend 
 Samuel Johnston, a missionary of the church for all the 
 country west of the Genesee River, officiated on this occa- 
 sion. The certificate of incorporation was signed by him, 
 and by George Badger and Jacob A. Barker. Messrs. 
 Erastus Granger and Isaac Q. Leake were the first war- 
 dens; and Messrs. Samuel Tupper, Sheldon Thompson, 
 Elias Ransom, John G. Camp, Henry M. Campbell, John 
 S. Larned, Jonas Harrison, and Doctor Josiah Trow- 
 bridge were the first vestrymen. The first settled mis- 
 sionary pastor of the parish was the Reverend William 
 A. Clark, in 18 19 and 1820. He was succeeded by the 
 Reverend Deodatus Babcock, from 1820 to 1824, and 
 the Reverend Addison Searle, from 1824 to 1828. The 
 Reverend William Shelton preached his first sermon in 
 the church on September 13th, 1829. He was the first 
 rector of the parish who received no support from the 
 missionary fund, and faithfully served Saint Paul's for 
 more than fifty years.
 
 2 History of Trinity Church 
 
 Under his auspices the present stone edifice was 
 erected on the site of the old one in 185 1. Such is the 
 beauty of the design that, seen from any point which 
 shows an entrance, the part presented to view appears to 
 be the front. The greatest length of the edifice is one 
 hundred and seventy-five feet, and the greatest width 
 ninety-four feet. The chancel is twenty-eight feet deep 
 and twenty-eight feet wide. The stone tower and spire 
 at the junction of Pearl and Erie streets have a total 
 height of two hundred and seventy-two feet, the spire 
 cross being raised very nearly as high as that of Trinity 
 Church, New York. The structure has been justly 
 called " Upjohn's masterpiece," and is considered one of 
 the finest specimens of Gothic architecture in the United 
 States, the tower being specially remarkable for its grace 
 and symmetry. The whole work may be justly consid- 
 ered a fitting monument to the untiring perseverance, 
 zeal, and industry of the Reverend Doctor Shelton, who 
 witnessed the laying of the first foundation stone, the 
 laying of the last stone on the tall spire, and the erection 
 of the gilded cross thereon. 
 
 Note. — This description is taken from an old newspaper published before the 
 fire which destroyed a large portion of the church. Many improvements in the 
 interior were made in the repairing ; but the exterior, with the exception of the 
 chancel, remains the same. — Editor.
 
 Cicero Stephens Hawks
 
 The Beginning of Trinity Church 
 
 EARLY in the history of Buffalo we find mention 
 of Saint Paul's, the first Episcopal church in the 
 city; and shortly afterwards we hear of its off- 
 shoots. The seating capacity of the parent church grad- 
 ually became inadequate to its increasing congregation, 
 and consequently a number of families withdrew to form 
 a new parish. The first movement in regard to its es- 
 tablishment was made in Saint Paul's, on Wednesday, 
 October 12th, 1836, when a meeting of prominent men 
 was held, with Mr. George B. Webster in the chair. The 
 new organization was named Trinity Church, and had 
 for its first wardens Captain Samuel L. Russell, U. S. A., 
 killed in the Seminole War, and Henry Daw, who re- 
 mained warden until his death in 1864. The vestry was 
 composed of E. H. Cressey, Doctor Charles Winne, 
 David L. Hempsted, Robert Hollister, Joseph Stringham, 
 Ambrose S. Sterling, Jesse Peterson, and F. H. Harris. 
 The seal of Trinity Church, bearing the date of its or- 
 ganization, had for its motto the word " Onward." 
 
 In January, 1837, the Reverend Cicero Stephens 
 Hawks, of Ulster, New York, was invited to become 
 rector; and in February he assumed his duties. His 
 first sermon in Buffalo is still remembered as being a 
 brilliant intellectual and oratorical effort. It was preached 
 in Saint Paul's, and the text was, " Render therefore unto 
 Caesar the things which are Caesar's ; and unto God the 
 things that are God's." 
 
 3
 
 4 History of Trinity Church 
 
 From April, 1837, to September, 1839, tne congrega- 
 tion of Trinity Church worshiped in the auditorium of 
 the abandoned theater, known as Duffy's, or the " Buf- 
 falo Theater," on South Division Street, at the southwest 
 corner of Washington Street. The musical portion of 
 the service at this time was furnished by a piano and 
 congregational singing, virtually under the direction of 
 Mr. Rushmore Poole, who had always been interested in 
 music. On June 30th, 1837, a new piano was purchased, 
 and the sum of fifty dollars per year was appropriated to 
 pay a pianist. The first regular music committee entered 
 upon its duties in May, 1838, and consisted of Mr. Sam- 
 uel K. Kip and Mr. Poole. It was about this time that Mr. 
 Jerry Radcliffe was elected warden, and he continued in 
 office until his death in 1856. A little later Mr. Poole 
 was elected vestryman, retaining this office more than 
 seventeen years. He had charge of the church finances 
 generally, and especially of the collecting of pew rents. 
 While still worshiping in the old theater, a handsomely 
 bound Bible was presented to the church for use in the 
 services, by Mr. Oliver G. Steele, a most generous and 
 liberal-minded gentleman, who, though not a member of 
 the church, took this means of showing his desire to 
 encourage the progress of the new organization. This 
 Bible was in use for many years, probably up to the time 
 of the removal to the new church on Delaware Avenue. 
 
 Mr. Hawks had become a beloved as well as valued 
 rector, while Mrs. Hawks, who was spoken of by her 
 husband as a " delicate flower," entered as much into the 
 work of the parish as ill health would permit. Mr. 
 Hawks was a man of scholarly attainments, social attrac- 
 tions, and distinguished personality. He was born at
 
 The Beginning of Trinity Church 5 
 
 Newbern, North Carolina, May 26th, 18 12, and was 
 educated at Chapel Hill. Report credited him with 
 being a direct descendant of the Indian princess Poca- 
 hontas. He certainly had a strong Indian face, in which 
 mingled with the aboriginal blood all the kindliness and 
 refinement that education and good breeding could give. 
 He was of medium stature, and slender in early life, and 
 was particularly neat in dress and personal appearance. 
 He preached at all times without notes, and in the pulpit 
 was unsurpassed in eloquence. He was a faithful rector 
 and a Christian gentleman. 
 
 In September, 1839, the congregation of Trinity 
 Church moved into the Universalist Church on Wash- 
 ington Street, between South Division and Swan streets. 
 This was a frame building with steeple and spire; and 
 its own congregation, being small and poor, was glad to 
 lease it to Trinity. Within this church was one of the 
 old-fashioned high box pulpits, with a double diverging 
 stairway curving round and half enclosing the platform 
 beneath. On the center panel of the pulpit, which was 
 painted blue and sanded, was inscribed in gold letters, 
 " God is Love." 
 
 The music committee consisted of the same gentle- 
 men who had served the year before. Miss Louisa 
 Huber, a young German musician, was engaged as 
 pianist, and Grandison B. Shelton as leader of the choir. 
 Mrs. Shelton sang soprano. While services were held in 
 the Universalist church, a society was formed, known as 
 " The Musical Association of Trinity Church," under 
 the same committee, pianist, and director; but musical 
 affairs received little attention at this time, owing to the 
 absorbing efforts to raise money for a church building.
 
 6 History of Trinity Church 
 
 The idea of building a permanent abiding place for 
 Trinity Church had been early agitated. An old paper 
 has been found, dated May ioth, 1838, containing a list 
 of the subscribers to the building fund, as follows: 
 
 The undersigned agree to pay to Trinity Parish, Buffalo, the 
 sum opposite to their respective names upon the following condi- 
 tions : 
 
 1st. Any individual subscribing any sum shall pay twenty per 
 cent, in Cash at the time of subscription, and the balance in notes of 
 Five, Ten, Fifteen, and Twenty months from the first day of July 
 next, with endorsements satisfactory to the Vestry. 
 
 2d. These sums subscribed shall not be expended for any 
 other purpose, but held sacred for the purpose of buying a suitable 
 site for a Church Building, and placing such building thereon. 
 
 3d. These sums shall not be considered as given save when it 
 is otherwise ordered by the subscriber, but as money loaned and to 
 be refunded in Pews, in such manner, and under such restrictions, 
 and subject to the payment of such rents and charges, as the War- 
 dens and Vestrymen of said Church may direct, whenever the 
 Church Building is completed. 
 
 Provided always and in every case, that no Individual shall 
 receive from the Church a Deed for his Pew until the whole amount 
 of his subscription has been paid. 
 
 List of Subscribers 
 
 Jerry Radcliffe, $500 
 
 Cyrus Athearn 5°° 
 
 R. Nelson Haydon 250 
 
 Elisha Kimberly, 250 
 
 Rushmore Poole, 250 
 
 Dyre Tillinghast, 400 
 
 Robert Hollister, 600 
 
 Russell H. Heywood, 300 
 
 James A. Cowing, 3°° 
 
 Henry Root and Peter Curtis, 225 
 
 Augustus Kimball 225
 
 The Beginning of Trinity Church 7 
 
 Hiram P. Thayer, 250 
 
 Simeon Fox, 400 
 
 Rufus C. Palmer 3°° 
 
 Morgan K. Faulkner, 3°° 
 
 Luman R. Plimpton 3°° 
 
 William L. G. Smith, 300 
 
 James DeLong, 3°° 
 
 Isaac W. Colie, 200 
 
 Henry W. Rogers 200 
 
 Lester Brace, 250 
 
 Sheldon Thompson, 250 
 
 George W. Clinton, 250 
 
 Henry M. Kinne, 250 
 
 PhiloDurfee, 250 
 
 Nehemiah Case, 250 
 
 Of these names that of Mr. Dyre Tillinghast has 
 been brought to our especial notice by the fact that a 
 daughter of Dyre and Maria Tillinghast is a member of 
 our present congregation, who was baptized by the 
 Reverend Mr. Hawks. Mr. and Mrs. Tillinghast were 
 original members of Saint Paul's parish, and Mr. Tilling- 
 hast wrote the first letter calling Doctor Shelton to Saint 
 Paul's. Doctor Shelton, however, came a year later, on 
 receiving a second call. They joined the new parish as 
 soon as it was formed, and were valuable and interested 
 members of Trinity congregation. 
 
 Whether there is another person among our present 
 members who has the same record, we have not heard. 
 Doubtless there are many descendants of those baptized 
 by our first rector, but it has not seemed possible to 
 ascertain the facts regarding them. 
 
 Mrs. Katherine Tillinghast Buell was the seventy- 
 seventh person baptized in old Trinity by the Reverend 
 Doctor Hawks.
 
 8 History of Trinity Church 
 
 As will be noticed, some of these subscribers did not 
 belong to Trinity Parish, but wished to assist the new 
 and struggling church. 
 
 It was a struggle indeed, and many disappointments 
 delayed the accomplishment of the cherished project. 
 Just as the subscription list was completed a financial 
 depression was felt in all business circles, and many of 
 the subscribers were obliged to withdraw their names. 
 The site on the southeast corner of Mohawk and Wash- 
 ington streets was secured, however, for 54,750; plans 
 were drawn and the foundation was begun. 
 
 The lease of the Universalist church expired in May, 
 1840, and a communication from the president of the 
 Board of Trustees informed the vestry of Trinity Church 
 that the " Trustees of the First Church and Society of 
 Universal Restorationists in the Town of Buffalo," were 
 willing to extend the lease to May 1st, 1841, for the sum 
 of $400.* It was probably, therefore, in the spring of 
 1841 that the church obtained temporary quarters in the 
 rooms of the Young Men's Association, on the second 
 floor of a building on the north side of South Division 
 Street, between Main and Washington streets; and it 
 was from this building that the church finally moved into 
 its own place of worship. 
 
 Mr. Hawks was very energetic in urging the comple- 
 tion of the church building, the work of which was 
 carried on intermittently. He frequently sacrificed his 
 limited salary to hasten it, and eked out his living by 
 writing books for publication, particularly Sunday school 
 books, which he prepared with great ease. The music 
 of the church at this time was rendered by Miss Louise 
 Clark, soprano, Miss Jane Fitch, alto, Mr. Frank Pease,
 
 The Beginning of Trinity Church 9 
 
 tenor, and Mr. Rushmore Poole, with Miss Huber's ac- 
 companiment. 
 
 The new church edifice was finally completed, al- 
 though, on account of restricted means, the original 
 design was given up, and a simpler one substituted. We 
 find, in an unpublished article by Mr. Deshler Welch, 
 that Messrs. James J. Culbertson and James D. Berry 
 were the contractors, and that it was estimated that the 
 building with the intended tower would cost $20,000. 
 The structure as finally erected was classical in design, 
 without tower or spire. The front entrance was never 
 properly finished, and should have had a Doric portico, 
 the foundations for the columns having been prepared 
 and left unused. The interior had no chancel, the back 
 wall being painted to represent a draped window outside 
 of which clambered the semblance of creeping vines. 
 The pulpit was of the usual high style. When the 
 organ — the source of so much excitement and pleasant 
 anticipation — was placed in the gallery, the joy of the 
 congregation was unbounded. The noble instrument 
 had been ordered by Mr. Poole according to instructions, 
 and was shipped from New York via the New York & 
 Buffalo Lake Boat Line, November 9th, 1842. It was 
 made by Firth & Hall, of New York, under the personal 
 supervision of their foreman, Mr. Robjohn, who with an 
 assistant came from New York to put it in place. It was 
 the first organ, made by this firm, to be sent west of 
 Albany. In Mr. Welch's article the organ case is de- 
 scribed as ten feet wide, six feet nine inches deep, and 
 fourteen and a half feet high. It contained five hundred 
 and twenty-five pipes, and was in all respects a most 
 creditable piece of work.
 
 i o History of Trinity Church 
 
 The congregation moved into the new building the 
 latter part of December, 1842; and in January, 1843, 
 Mr. Poole reported the organ as ready for use. Mr. 
 Robert Hollister was added to the music committee; Mr. 
 William R. Coppock was engaged as organist; and an ap- 
 propriation of twenty-five dollars was made for vocal music 
 for the coming Easter, and a like amount was set aside 
 for the purchase of music books and the services of a 
 " blower boy." Miss Clark, afterwards Mrs. Ambrose S. 
 Sterling, still sang soprano, and the tenor was Ebenezer 
 B. Pewtress, who had an exquisite voice, and had already 
 been a member of the choir for some months. Thus early 
 in its history Trinity was noted for its good music. 
 
 The church was formally consecrated by Bishop 
 De Lancey, January 19th, 1843. The original sentence 
 of consecration reads as follows: 
 
 Whereas the Rector, Church Wardens, and Vestrymen of 
 Trinity Church, in the City of Buffalo, County of Erie, State of 
 New York, and Diocese of Western New York, have, by an instru- 
 ment this day presented to me, appropriated and given a house of 
 worship erected by them in said City of Buffalo to the worship and 
 service of Almighty God according to the ministry, doctrines, lit- 
 urgy, rites, and usages of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the 
 United States of America ; have placed the same under my spiritual 
 jurisdiction and that of my successors in office ; and have requested 
 me to consecrate it by the name of Trinity Church : 
 
 Now, therefore, be it known that I, William Heathcote De- 
 Lancey, Bishop of the Diocese of Western New York, having taken 
 the said house of worship under my spiritual jurisdiction, and that 
 of my successors in office, did, on this nineteenth day of January, in 
 the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-three, 
 under the protection of Almighty God and in the presence of divers 
 of the clergy and of a public congregation there assembled, conse- 
 crate the same to the worship and service of Almighty God, the 
 Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, by the name of Trinity Church.
 
 The Beginning of Trinity Church 1 1 
 
 And I do by these presents declare the said Trinity Church to 
 be consecrated accordingly, and thereby separated thenceforth 
 from all unhallowed, worldly, and common uses, and set apart and 
 dedicated to the service of Almighty God, for reading and preaching 
 His Holy Word, for celebrating His Holy Sacraments, for offering 
 to His glorious Majesty the sacrifices of prayer, thanksgiving, and 
 praise, for blessing the people in His name, and for the perform- 
 ance of all other holy offices according to the terms of His Covenant 
 of grace and mercy in His Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, 
 and according to the ministry, doctrines, liturgy, and usages of the 
 Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. 
 
 In Testimony Whereof, I have hereunto affixed my hand and 
 seal, in the City of Buffalo, the day and year above written, and the 
 fourth year of my consecration. 
 
 Signed, 
 
 WILLIAM HEATHCOTE De LANCEY, 
 
 Bishop of the Diocese of Western New York. 
 [seal] 
 
 Although Trinity Parish was now finally settled in a 
 home of its own, its financial hardships were not all 
 over, and the Ladies' Aid Society determined to raise 
 the money for the first payment on the organ by holding 
 a fair. This society was accustomed to meet periodically 
 at the houses of the different members to do plain and 
 fancy sewing. Early on the day of meeting, a clothes- 
 basket would arrive, filled with aprons and other articles 
 already cut out and ready for sewing. Among the 
 ladies prominent in the society were Mrs. Thomas Per- 
 kins, Mrs. Cyrenius C. Bristol, Mrs. Gibson T. Williams, 
 Mrs. Rushmore Poole, Mrs. Robert Hollister, Mrs. Cyrus 
 Athearn, Mrs. Charles Winne, Mrs. Hawks, Mrs. Am- 
 brose S. Sterling, Miss Mary Radcliffe (afterwards Mrs. 
 William Laverack), Miss Howard (afterwards Mrs. John 
 M. Hutchinson), and Miss Irish (afterwards Mrs. James
 
 1 2 History of Trinity Church 
 
 McCredie, junior). Mrs. Hollister and Mrs. Winne were 
 experts in practical and fine needlework, and Mrs. Ath- 
 earn did all the fancy work and embroidery for the fair. 
 While the society worked, and the delicate and beautiful 
 white satin handkerchief cases were fashioned (several of 
 which are still in existence), Mrs. Hawks read to the 
 ladies, and helped to while the hours away. 
 
 The fair was held in the autumn of 1843 in the old 
 United States Bank building, at the northeast corner of 
 Main and South Division streets, and netted the sum of 
 nine hundred dollars, which was used for the first pay- 
 ment on the organ. At the fair was exhibited a model of 
 the church building as originally designed, the work of 
 Mr. Frank Pease. 
 
 At Easter, 1843, Mr. Coppock was reengaged as 
 organist, and an appropriation of one hundred dollars 
 was made for vocal music for the year. Mr. Hawks 
 kept up his reputation as a scholar of distinguished 
 ability, and his first sermon was remembered with so 
 much pleasure that he was requested to repeat it. An- 
 other sermon spoken of as being particularly able was 
 on the subject of the last days and death of Moses. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Hawks lived on Mohawk Street, and also 
 boarded for a time on Eagle Street, and frequently dis- 
 pensed informal and charming hospitality. 
 
 As an illustration of the early date of this history, it 
 may perhaps be permitted to give an anecdote of the 
 time. Mrs. Hawks said to a friend and neighbor, one of 
 the early aristocrats of Buffalo, " Do you think I might 
 venture to -wear a white rose on my bonnet?" "Of 
 course, my dear, put it on ; you are young and pretty, 
 and it is the time for roses." After the rose appeared in
 
 The Beginning of Trinity Church 1 3 
 
 church Mrs. Hawks received several anonymous notes, 
 of which history does not give the purport. But we can 
 imagine it might have been in the words of a modern 
 novelist: "We stick by the ways of the Discipline and 
 the ways of our fathers in Israel. No newfangled notions 
 down here. Your wife 'd better take them flowers out of 
 her bunnit afore next Sunday." 
 
 As is generally known, Mr. Hawks subsequently 
 became bishop of Missouri, and his congregation sus- 
 tained a great loss when he left Trinity Church. He 
 thus expressed his own sorrow at leaving, in a letter to 
 the wardens and vestrymen, dated October 28th, 1843: 
 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 Herewith I present to you my resignation of the rectorship ot 
 Trinity Church, — said resignation to take effect on the first day of 
 December. 
 
 God knows with what sorrow, after mature deliberation, I do 
 this — nor could it be done but from constraining thoughts of duty. 
 I have been too intimately associated with your parish from its com- 
 mencement, not to feel more than ordinary pain and anxiety as I 
 take this step. But another field of labor presents itself before me, 
 and the call to that field is for many reasons almost imperious with 
 me. 1 consider that I have no right to turn aside from it. 
 
 At such a moment the recollection of past struggles and past 
 kindnesses swell upon my heart, and I can say nothing. I ask 
 your prayers wherever I may be (for no man knows what trials may 
 be before me), and in return I shall never cease to pray that God's 
 blessing may be upon your parish and upon each of you individ- 
 ually. May God's grace rest upon you all, through Jesus Christ, our 
 Lord. 
 
 Yours in all Truth, 
 
 C. S. HAWKS. 
 
 With the resignation of Mr. Hawks, we reach the 
 close of the first epoch in the history of Trinity Church. 
 It is interesting to follow it step by step through its or-
 
 1 4 History of Trinity Church 
 
 ganization, early struggles, and final success in establish- 
 ing a permanent home for itself. The personality of its 
 congregation furnishes no less interesting reminiscences; 
 but as that period has passed away almost into oblivion, 
 leaving shadows of bygone regret in the minds of those 
 who still remember, so, too, it saddens us to realize that 
 of the well-known names and prominent supporters of 
 old Trinity only a few are remaining today. It is with 
 heartfelt and sympathetic pleasure that the above recol- 
 lections and account of early Trinity Parish have been 
 put into form by the granddaughter of two of the most 
 earnest workers in the old church.
 
 William Heathcote De Lancey
 
 Bishop De Lancey 
 
 FIFTY-NINE years ago Western New York gave to 
 the Episcopal Church in the United States the 
 first example of a new see erected from an older 
 one. The first bishop of the new diocese was William 
 Heathcote De Lancey, D.D., LL.D., D. C. L. (Oxon.), the 
 descendant of an ancient Huguenot family, who was born 
 at Mamaroneck, Westchester County, October 8th, 1797. 
 
 He was graduated at Yale College in 1817, and, after 
 studying theology with Bishop Hobart, became in 1822 
 the personal assistant of the venerable Bishop White, of 
 Philadelphia, in the three churches — Saint Peter's, Saint 
 James's, and Christ Church — of which that prelate was 
 the rector. In the succeeding year he was elected one of 
 the regular assistant ministers of those churches. 
 
 Upon the reorganization of the University of Penn- 
 sylvania in 1828, he was chosen provost of that institution, 
 and thereupon resigned his pastoral charge. He re- 
 mained provost for five years, and then resumed the 
 office of assistant minister of Saint Peter's Church, Phil- 
 adelphia. He traveled in Europe in 1835, and on his 
 return, after the death of Bishop White, succeeded to the 
 rectorship of Saint Peter's. 
 
 In 1838 the diocese of New York, comprising the 
 whole state, was divided, the eastern portion retaining 
 the old name; and at the primary convention of the new 
 diocese, held in Geneva, Doctor De Lancey was chosen 
 its first bishop. 
 
 15
 
 1 6 History of Trinity Church 
 
 He was consecrated May 9th, 1839, at Saint Peter's 
 Church, Auburn, and then removed to Geneva, the seat 
 of the diocesan college, now called Hobart College. To 
 his efficient efforts it was chiefly indebted for its support. 
 
 He very soon instituted a system of diocesan missions 
 by which a corps of laborers, unusually large in propor- 
 tion to the wealth and population of the diocese, were 
 sustained without incurring debt. 
 
 In 1840, by his recommendation, a fund for the relief 
 of infirm and aged clergy of the diocese was established, 
 which, besides accomplishing its object, became a perma- 
 nent fund of about ten thousand dollars. 
 
 In 1852 Bishop De Lancey, with the bishop of 
 Michigan, visited England as a delegation from the bish- 
 ops of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United 
 States to the venerable " Society for the Propagation of 
 the Gospel in Foreign Parts." The delegation was 
 received everywhere with the highest consideration and 
 respect. During this visit, on the twenty-third of June, 
 he received, together with his coadjutor, Bishop McCos- 
 kry, and the late Bishop Wainwright, then a presbyter, 
 the honorary degree of Doctor of Civil Law from the 
 University of Oxford. 
 
 Bishop De Lancey continued in the active adminis- 
 tration of his diocese until the spring of 1864, when he 
 was obliged to yield to the encroachments of a mortal 
 disease. At the annual convention of his diocese, August 
 17th, the last one over which he was ever to preside, he 
 asked for the election of an assistant bishop who should 
 also be his successor. The request was complied with, 
 and the Reverend Arthur Cleveland Coxe, D. D., was 
 duly chosen for the office. The consecration of Bishop
 
 Bishop De Lancey 1 7 
 
 Coxe in Trinity Church, Geneva, on the fourth of Jan- 
 uary, 1865, was the last public official act of Bishop 
 De Lancey. He died in the peace of God on the fifth 
 day of the ensuing April. 
 
 During the twenty-five years of his episcopate he 
 ordained one hundred and forty-five deacons and one 
 hundred and sixty priests, consecrated one hundred 
 church edifices, and admitted to the communion of the 
 church by the rite of confirmation twenty thousand and 
 forty-eight persons. 
 
 We append to this bare outline of the life of our first 
 bishop a few paragraphs from tributes of respect written 
 at the time of his death, which speak of the character 
 and tell of the esteem felt by all who knew " the great 
 De Lancey," as Bishop Doane calls him in the recent 
 commemorative sermon of our late beloved Bishop Coxe. 
 
 From the tribute paid by the clergy of his diocese we 
 quote the following: 
 
 In Bishop De Lancey we have beheld a most symmetrical and 
 harmonious character, gifts of a high order, good learning, sound- 
 ness of faith, purity of life, earnestness of purpose, ardent affections, 
 an unbending will always set to do the right whether men applauded 
 or censured, a conscience active to every call of duty, whether per- 
 sonal or official ; extraordinary devotion to the interests of his dio- 
 cese ; a tender regard for his clergy, and an earnest desire in every 
 way to promote both their usefulness and their happiness. 
 
 Nor can we fail to remember, with devout gratitude to the 
 Giver of every good and perfect gift, his thorough knowledge and 
 sound judgment in matters of business; his extraordinary adminis- 
 trative capacity, evinced in the creation and management of the 
 various trusts and charities of his diocese, especially in the mission- 
 ary system of the same, originated in the beginning of his episcopate 
 and carried on to the present time, with singular energy and suc- 
 cess, and with a punctuality and thoroughness in its operations 
 
 b
 
 1 8 History of Trinity Church 
 
 which have elicited approval and admiration far beyond our limits 
 — a system which has always been quickened by the glow of Bishop 
 De Lancey's own life and love. 
 
 We desire also to bear in grateful remembrance his strenuous 
 efforts to advance the interests of Learning as the handmaid of 
 Religion. Having presided with distinguished ability over one of 
 the oldest universities while still a young man, he early acquired a 
 strong sympathy with the cause of liberal education. Hobart Col- 
 lege has been largely indebted to his generous benefactions, wise 
 counsel, watchful care, and active efforts to secure its stability and 
 prosperity, while the Diocesan Training School, which owes its 
 existence to him, must stand forever as a monument of his en- 
 lightened devotion to the noble work of qualifying men by faithful 
 instruction in sound doctrine, for the office of the holy ministry. 
 
 But Bishop De Lancey's labors and solicitudes have not been 
 confined to his own diocese. On the contrary, he has ever taken a 
 deep and active interest in the general institutions and affairs of our 
 branch of the Catholic Church, and in the highest council thereof 
 his absence will be painfully felt. His long experience, practical 
 wisdom, thorough knowledge both of the principles and forms of 
 ecclesiastical legislation, his fearless advocacy of the measures 
 which his judgment approved, and the force of reason as well as 
 weight of character and personal influence which he could bring to 
 their support, gave a high value to his conclusions, and rendered 
 him one of the leading members of the House of Bishops. 
 
 Nor would our tribute be even tolerably complete should we 
 fail to make grateful mention of those deeds and qualities which 
 have endeared him to so many of his countrymen ; that readiness 
 to sacrifice himself and his convenience and comfort to the needs 
 of others ; that dignity and courtesy which were the charm of his 
 social intercourse ; and that thoughtful consideration of all sorts and 
 conditions of men which made him universally respected and be- 
 loved, and enabled him to present a beautiful example of what is 
 most desirable in an American bishop. 
 
 At the semicentennial commemoration of the found- 
 ing of the diocese of Western New York, the Reverend 
 Charles W. Hayes, D. D., spoke of Bishop De Lancey as 
 the pupil of both Bishop White and Bishop Hobart, with
 
 Bishop De Lancey 19 
 
 the prudence and gentle firmness of the one, and the 
 energy and fearlessness of the other. He said that Bishop 
 De Lancey's first great work was to build up the system 
 of diocesan missions inaugurated in 1796, the only means 
 of supporting missionary work within its own borders 
 that Western New York has ever known. Doctor Hayes 
 also says: 
 
 How deeply the Bishop felt the importance of this work, how 
 carefully all its details were studied by him, how the conditions, 
 wants, prospects, and trials of each mission and missionary were 
 always borne upon his mind and heart, none of you who knew him 
 personally can forget. How he would labor to build up the church 
 in this or that feeble or almost desert place, not only by visits and 
 correspondence, but by large contributions from his own small 
 means ! 
 
 Owing to Bishop De Lancey's wise and loving guid- 
 ance, and to the unity prevailing in the diocese, Western 
 New York, with its system and order, was known through- 
 out the church as " the model diocese." 
 
 There are few left in Trinity Church today who knew 
 and loved Bishop De Lancey, but we find among the 
 records the following resolutions, offered by the rector 
 and vestry of Trinity Church of thirty-two years ago : 
 
 Trinity Church, Buffalo. At a special meeting of the vestry 
 of Trinity Church in the city of Buffalo, convened on the sixth day 
 of April, A. D. 1865, by reason of the death of our beloved and 
 venerated Father in God, the Right Reverend William Heathcote 
 De Lancey, D.D., LL.D., D. C.L., the following resolutions, offered 
 by Mr. Henry VV. Rogers, were unanimously adopted. 
 
 " Resolved : That in the death of our deeply lamented dioc- 
 esan we mourn the loss of a pure and devoted Christian bishop, 
 who has exemplified the highest qualities of the Christian character, 
 in doctrine showing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, sound speech,
 
 20 History of Trinity Church 
 
 that could not be condemned ; a pattern of good works, looking 
 for that blessed hope, the glorious appearing of the great God and 
 our Saviour, Jesus Christ. 
 
 "Resolved : That we shall ever hold in the most grateful and 
 respectful remembrance his truly Christian and apostolic character, 
 and eminent services. Wise and judicious in his administration, 
 firm and consistent in his advocacy of the principles of the church, 
 and unwearied in his exertions to promote its best interests, his 
 labors have been blessed in a united and harmonious diocese, and 
 in the steady advancement of the great interests of our holy 
 religion. 
 
 " Resolved : That in further testimony of our high respect for 
 the memory of our late Bishop, this vestry do appoint delegates 
 from this parish to attend his funeral." 
 
 Whereupon the following named gentlemen were duly ap- 
 pointed ; viz.: the Reverend Doctor Ingersoll (the rector), Henry 
 W. Rogers, Robert Hollister, James M. Smith, James McCredie, 
 William Laverack, Benjamin F. Smith, Thomas G. Perkins, Frank 
 W. Fiske, William B. Peck, and Calvin N. Otis. 
 
 It was also further 
 
 "Resolved : That Trinity Church be draped in mourning, and 
 that the respectful and affectionate condolence of the vestry be 
 tendered to the afflicted family of the deceased, and a certified 
 copy of these resolutions be sent to them, and that the same be 
 published in The Gospel Messenger. 
 
 EDWARD INGERSOLL, Rector. 
 
 James McCredie, Clerk pro tern.
 
 Edward Ingersoll 
 1844
 
 Reverend Edward Ingersoll 
 
 1844-1874 
 
 OUR first rector, the Reverend Doctor Hawks, was 
 worthily succeeded by the Reverend Edward 
 Ingersoll, D. D. Descended from a family 
 which had been famous in the social and political history 
 of Connecticut for two hundred years, and which has 
 proved its eminence up to the present day, his gifts of 
 diction and his eloquence in the pulpit were a natural 
 inheritance. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut, 
 November 26th, 18 10; was graduated from Yale in 1831 ; 
 was married in New Haven in 1836 to Catherine Frances 
 Seymour, daughter of an old Southern family. 
 
 Perhaps here it may be proper to notice the coinci- 
 dence that of the four rectors of Trinity up to the present 
 date, the wife of each has been a Southern woman. Doc- 
 tor Hawks himself was a North Carolinian by birth and 
 descent. The other three were men of Northern birth, 
 and all were heart and soul on the side of the Union at 
 the time of the Civil War. In Bishop Hawks's case this 
 was quite a perilous position. Doctor Van Bokkelen 
 was obliged to break up his school in Maryland at that 
 time and leave the state on account of his Northern 
 sympathies. 
 
 Most of Doctor Ingersoll's immediate family, and 
 several nephews, were distinguished men. One nephew 
 was governor of Connecticut, and afterward at the head
 
 2 2 History of Trinity Church 
 
 of its bar. His sister, who was called the most beautiful 
 woman in America, married the ambassador from France 
 in the days of Napoleon Bonaparte. His eldest brother, 
 Ralph, was senator from Connecticut, and subsequently 
 minister to Russia. One of his ancestors was royal 
 judge of the High Court of Admiralty before the Revo- 
 lution. His brother Charles was judge of the United 
 States district court. (This genealogical record is given 
 for the pleasure of his old friends, as well as his many 
 descendants who are still residents of Buffalo.) 
 
 Doctor Ingersoll's first parish was at Meriden, Con- 
 necticut. Thence he went to Westport, Connecticut ; 
 then to Troy, New York; later taking charge of Saint 
 Michael's Parish, Geneseo, New York. It was during 
 his rectorate at this latter parish, that, the Reverend 
 Doctor Hawks having been elected to the bishopric of 
 Missouri, the vestry of Trinity unanimously elected 
 Doctor Ingersoll as his successor. Bishop De Lancey 
 addressed James M. Smith, then clerk of the vestry, on 
 this subject as follows: 
 
 The painful intelligence of the vacancy in your parish, occa- 
 sioned by the removal of Mr. Hawks, I receive with deep regret. 
 
 The choice of a successor could not have fallen on an individ- 
 ual more acceptable to myself than Mr. Ingersoll, whose qualifica- 
 tions for the position are of the highest order. 
 
 Doctor Ingersoll accepted this call, subject to an 
 interval of three months, when the Reverend David M. 
 Fackler, of Philadelphia, officiated ; and, as the dates of 
 our heading show, our city and our parish were blessed 
 by his presence and ministrations for more than thirty 
 years.
 
 Reverend Edward Ingersoll 2 3 
 
 Doctor Ingersoll's reading of the ritual was unsur- 
 passed in fervor and beauty of expression, and many are 
 the tributes we have read which bear witness to his 
 power thus to move the hearts of men. 
 
 To quote from " Recollections of Buffalo " : 
 
 Doctor Ingersoll was a man of high intellectual attainments, 
 purity and guilelessness of character, whose heart was filled with 
 charity and benevolence. He was dearly beloved and venerated by 
 those who sat under his teachings. I have heard him read the bap- 
 tismal service and the ritual for the dead when he seemed like one 
 inspired, his beautiful dark eyes glistening with angelic beauty, and 
 his utterances thrilling the hearts of those who listened to him. 
 
 From another source we quote the following para- 
 graphs : 
 
 He was a man whose long service and self-sacrifice in behalf of 
 the church have won for him a name such as it has been the fortune 
 of but few clergymen to achieve. 
 
 Wherever Doctor Ingersoll went, blessings went with him. 
 His work was enthusiastic ; his heart and soul were in it, and no 
 labor was too severe if only the desired results could be attained. 
 Socially, his deep learning and courteous manners made him a 
 universal favorite. His loss, in all the circles in which he moved, 
 will be irreparable. 
 
 He was an advanced churchman for his day, not only 
 in the reverence of his voice and manner in reading the 
 service, but in the observance of certain forms with which 
 he marked passages in the creed and litany. His reading 
 was an inspiration to all who heard it. The holy days 
 were observed with exactness and solemnity. On As- 
 cension Day he was wont to place slips in the pews, 
 reminding his people of the duty of a proper observance 
 of the day and the benefit to be derived therefrom. It
 
 24 History of Trinity Church 
 
 seems quite appropriate to quote here a few suggestions 
 on this subject from Bishop Coxe's " Thoughts on the 
 Service." 
 
 This day concludes the glorious circuit through which the Sun 
 of Righteousness has run His course. He who was God from the 
 beginning was with Him in His divine nature even while He 
 walked on earth and descended into Hades ; but now His human 
 nature is exalted to the right hand of the Father, and we see our 
 own nature in Him, advanced to the glory which is the common 
 destiny of the redeemed ; for He " is not ashamed to call us breth- 
 ren," and we are " made to sit with Him in heavenly places." Al- 
 ready, the church, like the lark, seems to take the wings of the 
 morning, and to sing at the very gate of heaven her exulting hope 
 "that where He is, thither we shall also ascend, and reign with 
 Him in glory." There is nothing which can enter the mind of man 
 so entirely beyond all that man imagines by his own powers, and so 
 ennobling to his nature, as the truth which this day celebrates. 
 Poor sinners that we are,— poor dying worms, can it be that we are 
 heirs of immortal glory, and that the way into the heaven of heavens 
 stands wide open, so that, in body and soul, we may follow the Son 
 of God, and be welcomed by Him as brethren and partakers of His 
 throne ? 
 
 To the Sunday school children Doctor Ingersoll's 
 visits were a joy and delight, each class with their teacher 
 rising to greet him as he made his rounds among them. 
 The favored one on whom his hand chanced to rest, 
 while he was speaking to them, felt its slight pressure as 
 a benediction for the rest of the day. On Easter Day 
 he would enter the Sunday school saying, " Christ has 
 risen," with such enthusiasm and rejoicing, that it had 
 the effect of the native Russian greeting, so joyous and 
 universal in that country. 
 
 His sermons were strong on all doctrinal points, and 
 finished and classical in diction. Add to this a com- 
 manding and singularly handsome presence, and it will
 
 Reverend Edward Ingersoll 2 5 
 
 not seem strange that for years he was one of the most 
 striking figures in our Buffalo pulpits. 
 
 Mr. James M. Smith, who, as we have seen, was clerk 
 of the vestry at the time of Doctor Ingersoll's call to the 
 rectorship, remained his lifelong and devoted friend, sus- 
 taining and comforting the beloved rector under his many 
 trials, and on all occasions upholding his example with zeal 
 and devotion. He perpetuated this love and veneration 
 by contributing generously to the fund for the erection 
 of the memorial window in the chancel of the new Trinity, 
 and to the building of the Church of the Good Shepherd, 
 both of which are memorials to Doctor Ingersoll. The 
 monument in Forest Lawn is also a tribute from personal 
 friends, many of whom were not members of Trinity 
 Church. Mrs. James M. Smith was a most lovely and 
 attractive woman, with a heart which always responded 
 to the calls of friendship and charity. The beautiful 
 window and statuary which have been placed in the 
 memorial chapel in her memory but give expression to 
 the record of her whole life. 
 
 Mr. S. V. R. Watson was conspicuous in the history 
 of Buffalo for his public spirit and energy in planning 
 various valuable institutions for the future benefit of the 
 city. In fact, his ideas seemed, in some respects, ahead 
 of his time, and perhaps even he builded better than he 
 knew when he pushed the interests of the public library 
 and laid the numerous street railroads which connected 
 the almost unimproved property with that closely settled. 
 
 The existence of Trinity Church from 1837 to 1897 
 keeps pace with the Victorian era, which we are now 
 celebrating. In church architecture, as well as in our 
 social life, the progress of taste is made strikingly mani-
 
 26 History of Trinity Church 
 
 fest; and the fundamental principles of decorative art 
 which sixty years ago were forgotten, or at least rarely 
 practiced, are now universally observed. People are in a 
 wider sense than ever before " the heirs of all the ages," 
 and the glories of the past and the stately elegance of 
 Queen Anne's and Queen Elizabeth's times are now ap- 
 propriately used in modern buildings and decorations. 
 In 1837 these principles were regarded with indifference 
 by our grandfathers; and we will therefore forgive the 
 architects and builders of our first edifice for its singular 
 design. In its attempt to follow a classical model, the 
 oblong hall was spoken of as very " chaste and beautiful." 
 It had one valuable peculiarity in which modern churches 
 often fail — its acoustic properties were perfect. We who 
 recall the slippery haircloth seats and narrow pews, the 
 simple chancel with its great guardian pillars, the mot- 
 toes on the wall, the faded upholstery, with the plain 
 organ gallery at the end of the nave, may well wonder at 
 the popularity of the building, and the love its people 
 bore it. But there were times when even the plain 
 interior was a bower of beauty. At Christmas the 
 wreaths were twined by the women of the church, 
 and young men and maidens met in the basement for 
 work, as well as social enjoyment. It was often hung 
 with heavy wreaths looped from corner to corner, and 
 the windows were festooned as with evergreen hangings, 
 the natural pine trees filling in spaces which made the 
 church for the time a veritable cathedral of Nature's own 
 designing. At Easter, the altar was a bank of flowers ; 
 large balls of brilliant colors hung from the chandeliers, 
 and each window was a miniature conservatory of grow- 
 ing plants.
 
 Reverend Edward Ingersoll 
 
 27 
 
 In the dense crowd which filled the church on the 
 great festivals were beautiful women and brave men, 
 whose faces, alas ! are seen no more, but whose memory 
 still lingers with us. There were more men as regular 
 attendants in those days than now, and the responses 
 came full and deep from pews which now are silent. To 
 repeat the list of names would be almost to rewrite the 
 early directory of Buffalo, but we venture to attempt a 
 list of the early pew holders. 
 
 Pew Holders — April, 1847 
 
 Charles R. Gold, 
 
 Curtiss L. Brace, 
 
 Henry W. Rogers and James M. 
 Smith, 
 
 Aaron D. Patchin, 
 
 Sheldon Thompson, 
 
 James B. Dubois, 
 
 Hiram P. Thayer, 
 
 Orrin B. Titus and Judson Har- 
 mon, 
 
 Elisha A. Maynard, 
 
 William Williams, 
 
 John Shepard, 
 
 Gibson T. Williams and George 
 L. Newman, 
 
 John Dodge, 
 
 Woolsey W. Radcliff, 
 
 William A. Sutton, 
 
 Charles H. S. Williams, 
 
 Captain William Dickson, 
 
 Cyrus P. Lee, 
 
 William R. Vickory, 
 
 Thomas Kilderhouse, 
 
 John L. Talcott, 
 
 David S. Battey, 
 
 James Radcliff, 
 William L. G. Smith, 
 Robert Hollister, 
 Rufus C. Palmer, 
 F. W. Newbould, 
 Henry M. Kinne, 
 Elam R. Jewett, 
 Jacob S. Miller, 
 Ambrose S. Sterling, 
 Nehemiah Case, 
 Cyrenius C. Bristol, 
 James C. Evans, 
 William Woodruff, 
 John Cook, 
 Eli Cook, 
 
 Frederick Shadrake, 
 Doctor Walter Cary, 
 George W. Langdon, 
 Harry Thompson, 
 Mrs. Benjamin Hersee, 
 George W. Houghton, 
 Pardon C. Sherman, 
 John Drake, 
 Mrs. Mark Sibley, 
 Benjamin S. Bidwell,
 
 28 History of Trinity Church 
 
 John Bull, Edward H. Dutton, 
 
 James McCredie, John Fleeharty, 
 
 Lucas Messtler, Henry Daw, 
 
 Henry Daw and James DeLong, William B. and Charles 
 
 Peter L. Parsons, E. Peck, 
 
 Samuel Stearns, Henry Kip, 
 
 Fayette Rumsey, William Laverack, 
 
 Manley Colton, William H. Eckley, 
 
 J. Carew, John Griffith, 
 
 B. A. Mumford, Alonzo W. Johnson, 
 
 Samuel F. Gelston, Robert McPherson, 
 
 Dyre Tillinghast, Misses Kimberly, 
 
 John M. Hutchinson, Cyrus Athearn, 
 
 David Burt, William O. Brown, 
 
 James DeLong, Absalom Bull, 
 
 Asa T. Wood, Samuel K. Worthington, 
 
 Samuel Purdy, S. V. R. Watson. 
 
 During the last forty years [says one of the newspapers of long 
 ago], the pew list of this venerable church has borne the names 
 of many of Buffalo's oldest, most honored, and socially distin- 
 guished citizens. Within its walls, too, have worshiped those 
 whom the nation delighted to honor. One bright Sunday morning 
 in 1846, that "old man eloquent," ex-president John Quincy Adams, 
 sat among the worshipers, the guest of Mr. Henry W. Rogers. 
 
 Charitable work, though very differently managed 
 from that of the present time, was faithfully performed 
 by the women of the parish. They went basket in hand 
 from room to room in the old tenement houses on Seneca 
 Street, and over the canal bridge, trying to help and 
 comfort those less favored than they. Duty was a word 
 as well understood in those days as the present, and was 
 perhaps fulfilled with more personal sacrifice. 
 
 One small incident occurs to the writer which although 
 of no importance in itself, seems worthy of record because 
 it has lived through all these many years — a pleasant
 
 Reverend Edward Ingersoll 29 
 
 memory of a beautiful and gracious woman, Mrs. Emily 
 Evstaphieve. Asking her one day if she would con- 
 tribute to some charity, she immediately replied, " Why, 
 certainly; I have been wondering what I should do with 
 this bill I have tucked away in my purse"; and the 
 generous, kindly manner of the giving made an impres- 
 sion quite beyond the value of the gift. 
 
 "And when the stream 
 Which overflowed the soul was passed away, 
 A consciousness remained that it had left, 
 Deposited upon the silent shore 
 Of memory, images and precious thoughts 
 That shall not die and cannot be destroyed." 
 
 The example of such a mother, as has been the case 
 with many others in this old church of ours, has left its 
 mark upon their descendants, causing them to love the 
 church and to willingly share in its work. 
 
 Mrs. William Laverack also was one of the old-time 
 givers and workers. She collected most of the fund for 
 the Ingersoll memorial window. Notably in this con- 
 nection, though of later date, we would add the names 
 of Mrs. Thomas F. Rochester, Mrs. Peter A. Porter, 
 Miss Sabina Morris, and Mrs. James McCredie. These, 
 and many, many more, have found that 
 
 "Amid all life's quests 
 There seems but worthy one — to do men good." 
 
 During the war times the women of Trinity, as well 
 as those of all the churches in Buffalo, were enthusias- 
 tically working for the armies of the North. Mrs. Horatio 
 Seymour, of Saint Paul's Church, a most conscientious 
 and capable woman, fearless and determined in a right
 
 30 History of Trinity Church 
 
 cause, was president of the Soldiers' Aid Society. Miss 
 Maria M. Love was also an active member in this society, 
 and thus began in her youthful days the philanthropic 
 work in which she is still so eminent and capable. 
 
 Among some unpublished reminiscences of that time 
 is that of an amateur performance of " The Mistletoe 
 Bough," given at the opera house for this cause. Many 
 of the actors are still prominent in our social life. Mrs. 
 Samuel M. Welch appeared as one of the young maids 
 dusting in the attic, where, to her horror, she discovers 
 the skeleton in the " old oak chest." (It had been fur- 
 nished from the study of Doctor Walter Cary.) Mrs. 
 Fanny L. Dole (mother of Mrs. Charles De Laney), a 
 sweet singer of that day, gave the music and story be- 
 tween the acts, and Miss Elizabeth Love (the bride) 
 appeared in the last scene, ascending to heaven, borne up 
 by a group of admiring angels. It has ever since been a 
 relief to the children who witnessed the play to know 
 that it wasn't her skeleton that was found in the " old 
 oak chest." 
 
 To go a little further back chronologically, the insti- 
 tution of Doctor Ingersoll was an important era in the 
 history of Trinity. The church had become very popu- 
 lar, and the seating capacity was already too small. So, 
 at the annual sale and renting of pews, certain square 
 pews accomodating eight or ten people in separate sit- 
 tings were sold for the occupancy of families. One of 
 these had been rented to a party of bachelors, who were 
 thus sold out, and had to accept the hospitality of friends, 
 which was not an agreeable arrangement. The party of 
 young gentlemen was composed of Thomas C. Welch, 
 Doctor John S. Trowbridge, Doctor Sylvester F. Mixer,
 
 Reverend Edward Ingersoll 3 1 
 
 Ai Rollins, Edmund P. Pickering, James L. Butler, 
 Charles Pickering, Otis P. Sheldon, and Samuel M. Welch. 
 
 Soon after Easter they met at a convivial supper in a 
 popular restaurant called the Pantheon. One topic of 
 discussion was, " What shall we do for sittings in Trin- 
 ity ? " Finally, the suggestion was offered that then and 
 there they should organize a new parish. The idea was 
 certainly a novel one to proceed from a set of gay young 
 men, not one of whom had then been confirmed. But it 
 showed a more serious interest in church matters than 
 most young men exhibit nowadays. This was the be- 
 ginning of Saint John's, the grandchild of Saint Paul's. 
 
 The music has always been a prominent feature in 
 Trinity Church. Mrs. Barton Hill, soprano, was a very 
 accomplished musician. Her singing was most inspir- 
 ing and sympathetic. She moved the feelings of a con- 
 gregation or of a secular audience as few singers can. 
 At a patriotic meeting, during the Civil War, she led in 
 the national hymn, the whole audience joining in the 
 chorus of" The Star Spangled Banner." It was an occasion 
 never to be forgotten by those who were present. Some 
 of the musicians whose names were long associated with 
 the choir are Mrs. Anderson, Miss Eliza Maltby, Mr. 
 Frank Pease, and Mr. Booker. Mrs. Rushmore Poole, 
 Mrs. Ambrose S. Sterling, Mrs. Ida Lee Mayhew, Mrs. 
 Sears, Mrs. Hoffman, Miss Charlotte Hedge, Mr. William 
 Eckley, Mr. Barton, Mr. Everett Baker, and Mr. Laurence 
 were succeeding organists, and, later, John R. Blodgett, 
 Robert Denton, and William Kaffenberger. Other soloists 
 were Miss Sweet, James M. Kimberly, the Misses Evsta- 
 phieve, Mr. Jesse Ketchum, Miss Christine Dossert, and 
 Mr. Charles Hager. The latter thus early commenced his
 
 32 History of Trinity Church 
 
 work with the choir, and at this date (March, 1897) we 
 are pleased to state that he is still in charge of the choris- 
 ters. Five years ago he reached the twenty-fifth anniver- 
 sary of his connection with the choir, and received cordial 
 testimonials from the congregation. 
 
 The year 1852 was a sad one for the dear rector. 
 His lovely eldest daughter was failing in health, and 
 eventually died of consumption. He was obliged to re- 
 quest leave of absence for several months, in order to 
 give his child "those temporal comforts, and above all 
 those spiritual consolations which a person in her sad 
 condition so greatly needs." Proper arrangements were 
 made by the vestry for conducting the services in Doctor 
 Ingersoll's absence, and he went on his fruitless journey. 
 His wife's health gradually failed, and although she sur- 
 vived this trial for several years, she was always an in- 
 valid and a source of loving care and anxiety to her hus- 
 band. In 1 86 1 it became necessary that Doctor Ingersoll 
 should take his wife to Minnesota, hoping by change of 
 climate to arrest the disease from which she was suffering. 
 Thus again, he was obliged to leave his young family in 
 charge of others, his pulpit to an assistant, and his beau- 
 tiful young daughter Susette without the mother's care. 
 This young lady afterwards married Mr. Robert Hayes, 
 and died early in life. 
 
 It was during this absence of Doctor Ingersoll that the 
 Reverend Doctor Starkey had charge of the parish. He 
 was a clergyman of rare gifts and much beloved. 
 
 Mrs. Ingersoll was not benefited by the change, and 
 her death occurred in 1866. The vestry passed tender 
 resolutions of regret and sympathy, and requested Doc- 
 tor Ingersoll to give up his parochial duties for a time,
 
 Reverend Edward Ingersoll 3$ 
 
 hoping it might restore his health and peace of mind. 
 The women of the church erected a tablet to Mrs. Inger- 
 soll's memory, which was placed in the chancel. 
 
 The Doctor bore all these afflictions uncomplainingly, 
 and returned to his accustomed duties and occupations, 
 knowing that " the heart knoweth his own bitterness, and 
 a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy." The 
 expression " the patient Ingersoll," as used by one of the 
 standing committee of the diocese in speaking of him, 
 reveals the world of sad experiences through which he 
 had passed. 
 
 At various times in the history of the church, begin- 
 ning as early as 1852, schemes for selling the old build- 
 ing and moving further uptown had been proposed, once 
 resulting in quite a large subscription for the purpose, 
 and again in really purchasing a lot on Delaware Ave- 
 nue, at the corner of Park Place. But the locality not 
 meeting favor with a large number of the subscribers, it 
 was eventually abandoned. The question of consolida- 
 tion with Christ Church had also been taken up; and 
 although both vestries seemed favorable to the project, 
 objections seemed constantly to arise, until our vestry 
 became discouraged and gave up the hope of ever getting 
 the congregation out of the old locality. These few 
 words cover the experiences of several years, but the 
 details would not be interesting reading. Doctor Inger- 
 soll, also, grieved and disappointed by the failure of the 
 project which seemed to promise prosperity and unity 
 for the church, with much sorrow resigned his rector- 
 ship. He had refused the position of one of the assistant 
 ministers of Trinity Church, New York : he had been 
 elected to all the offices in the diocese which he was
 
 34 History of Trinity Church 
 
 willing to accept, and had uniformly filled them with 
 honor to himself and his people, but his singularly un- 
 ambitious nature seemed to resist the idea of change, 
 even in promotion. 
 
 His letter of resignation was as follows: 
 
 I hereby resign the rectorship of Trinity Church, Buffalo, this 
 resignation to take place on the first day of March, 1874, the thir- 
 tieth anniversary of my incumbency of this parish. 
 
 It is exceedingly painful to sunder the bonds which have united 
 us for so many years in such a sacred relationship, but I deem it 
 best that a separation should take place. For many years my 
 relations to Trinity Church were everything I could have wished 
 them to be, marked as they were by kind attentions, Christian 
 sympathy, and evidences of attachment too strong and numerous 
 ever to be forgotten. And, indeed, I have reason to believe that 
 towards me personally there still remain very strong feelings of 
 attachment. But all this can never compensate for the loss of what 
 I deem to be the vital interests of this parish. 
 
 The indifference evinced by a large and influential portion of 
 the congregation on the matter of the erection of a new church edi- 
 fice (a project which was entered upon with so much enthusiasm in 
 the spring of 1871), the greatly diminished number of those who 
 attend the public worship of the church, the neglect — and in some 
 cases the absolute refusal — to pay the taxes and rents, — these, 
 and other things which might be mentioned, are indications of 
 apathy, which, if not arrested, must result in increasing languish- 
 ment and decay, and, ultimately, in the extinction of the parish. 
 
 May the good Lord avert from it such a dreadful catastrophe ! 
 May He direct you to the choice of a worthy successor to the rec- 
 torship — a man who can meet the difficulties and dangers which 
 encompass our beloved parish with more wisdom and zeal and 
 energy and endurance than your present rector can command. 
 
 Affectionately your pastor, 
 
 EDWARD INGERSOLL. 
 
 Trinity Church Rectory, 
 October nth, A. D. 1873.
 
 Reverend Edward Ingersoll 35 
 
 Doctor Ingersoll was ultimately induced to extend 
 his services to Easter Monday. The vestry, in accepting 
 their rector's resignation, passed the following resolutions : 
 
 Resolved : that in accepting the resignation of the Reverend 
 Edward Ingersoll, D. D., as rector of this parish, we do so with 
 feelings of pain and sorrow which no words of ours can adequately 
 express, and which we are confident are shared by every member 
 of this parish. For a period of thirty years he has been our pastor, 
 teacher, and friend ; he has broken to us the bread of life ; he has 
 preached to us with impressive earnestness and power the Gospel 
 of the Everlasting Kingdom ; he has rejoiced with us in all our joys, 
 and sympathized with and consoled us in every sorrow and afflic- 
 tion ; and in all the sacred and endearing relations of pastor and 
 people he has been united to us by ties of ever increasing tender- 
 ness and strength. We shall never cease to feel the debt of grati- 
 tude and affection we have for him, and we invoke upon his future 
 years the bountiful blessings of Heaven. 
 
 JAMES M. SMITH, 
 ROBERT HOLLISTER, 
 SAMUEL K. WORTHINGTON. 
 February 10th, 1874. 
 
 Having for the sake of continuity continued the his- 
 tory of Doctor Ingersoll's pastorate up to the time of 
 his resignation, it is necessary to retrace our steps and 
 record some of the important events, as well as the names 
 of individuals prominent in the affairs of the parish for 
 many years. 
 
 In 1855, the committee from the vestry for procuring 
 subscriptions for a new church was, Henry W. Rogers, 
 Stephen V. R. Watson, John M. Hutchinson, Alexander 
 A. Evstaphieve, and George L. Newman. 
 
 In 1857, Mr. Rushmore Poole, having had the super- 
 vision of the choir for nineteen consecutive years, signified
 
 2,6 History of Trinity Church 
 
 his intention to withdraw. His duty had been for some 
 years combined with those of treasurer and of clerk of the 
 vestry. The vestry passed a resolution of thanks to 
 him for his faithful administration during the whole 
 period of the existence of the parish. 
 
 Other names connected with the parish, suggested 
 from memory, are Doctor and Mrs. Charles Winne, Mr. 
 and Mrs. Cyrus P. Lee, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel M. Welch, 
 Mr. and Mrs. Thomas C. Welch, Doctor Austin Flint, 
 Oscar F. Crary, Curtis L. Brace, Mrs. Jason Sexton, Mrs. 
 Thomas Perkins, Mrs. E. V. Smith, General Bennet Riley 
 and family, Charles Pickering, Mr. and Mrs. William 
 Williams, Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Maynard, Aaron D. 
 Patchin, Mr. and Mrs. John Hollister, Mr. and Mrs. Wil- 
 liam Lovering, Hugh and John Allen, Judson Hanan, 
 Robert A. Brown, Harry Thompson, John H. Vought, 
 James C. Harrison, David P. Dobbins, Doctor John 
 Hauenstein, Miss E. Clark, Edward B. Smith, General 
 and Mrs. Berry, S. F. Sherman, Edward H. Dutton, S. 
 Brush, L. D. Caldwell, Theodore and Julia McKnight, 
 Henry C. Winslow, George Gorham, John Ganson, 
 Moses Smith, T. P. Clarkson, James W. Brown, Jesse C. 
 Dann, Charles Ensign, William B. Peck, Andrew G. C. 
 Cochrane, Ammi W. Cutter, Robert H. Stevens, Joseph 
 L. Fairchild, Charles G. Irish, Cornelius R. Ganson, 
 Moses M. Richmond, Gibson T. Williams, William L. 
 Dorsheimer, Henry L. Lansing, Bronson C. Rumsey, 
 Sylvester F. Mixer, Charles R. Gold, Cyrus Clarke, 
 George L. Clinton, Doctor Thomas F. Rochester, Isaac 
 W. Brownell, Augustus C. Taylor, Albert Barnard, Shel- 
 don Pease, Orson Phelps, Thomas Kasson, Chandler J. 
 Wells, F. A. Newbould, Doctor Frederick S. Dellenbaugh,
 
 Reverend Edward Inger soil ■%>! 
 
 Cyrenius C. Bristol, William A. Bird, junior, Townsend 
 Davis, Frank W. Fiske, Edward B. Smith, Henry R. 
 Watson, William E. Foster, Mrs. Elizabeth Porter, Miss 
 Sabina Morris. The early records having been lost, 
 probably in their removal from the old church, it is im- 
 possible to verify the list. 
 
 In i860 the name of Rufus L. Howard appears in the 
 list of the vestry. From that time till the year of his 
 death, 1896, he has been a valued and constant friend 
 and adviser of the rector and vestry, and was warden for 
 many years. It is still a pleasant memory with the 
 congregation to recall the handsome, erect figures of 
 David P. Dobbins and Rufus L. Howard walking up the 
 aisle to leave their offerings at the altar. 
 
 In 1863 the name of James McCredie, the lifelong 
 friend and the generous benefactor of the new church, 
 appears on the vestry. This date also marks the death 
 of Henry Daw, warden since the time of the organization 
 of the parish. Mr. Robert Hollister became his successor. 
 His name and that of Mrs. Hollister are conspicuous in 
 the church annals, as well as in society. 
 
 In 1864 occurred the death of the loved and honored 
 Bishop De Lancey, the first bishop of Western New 
 York. The resolutions of the vestry are included in the 
 sketch of his life which has been given. 
 
 In 1867, Frederick Shadrake, the faithful servant and 
 sexton of the parish, died, and a resolution of regret was 
 passed by the vestry. 
 
 The year 1868 is marked in the church annals by the 
 death of its former rector, Bishop Hawks. The action 
 of the vestry was as follows, James M. Smith presenting 
 the memorial:
 
 38 History of Trinity Church 
 
 Inasmuch as it has pleased Almighty God in His wise provi- 
 dence to remove from his earthly labors the Right Reverend Cicero 
 Stephens Hawks, D. D., Bishop of Missouri, we, the rector, war- 
 dens, and vestrymen of Trinity Church, Buffalo, (of which he was 
 the first rector,) assembled to take action suitable to this mournful 
 occasion, and place upon record this memorial of our affection for 
 our first rector, and of our grief at the death of a distinguished and 
 faithful soldier and servant of the cross. 
 
 He came to this parish in the year 1837, but a few months after 
 its organization, and for nearly seven years he labored with singu- 
 lar zeal and wisdom to establish it upon firm foundations, to enlarge 
 its borders, and to build it up in strength and beauty. 
 
 As we look back to those years of his faithful, devout, and ear- 
 nest labors among us, we feel how deeply this parish was indebted 
 to him, under God, for its rapid growth, its uniform prosperity, for 
 its present stability, and for the efficiency, harmony, and charity 
 which have marked its history. 
 
 Called and divinely consecrated to the work of a bishop in the 
 church, he illustrated in that new and wider field of labor the same 
 noble gifts and graces which had made him the successful rector. 
 Zealously devoting himself to the work of carrying to every part of 
 his widely extended diocese the glad tidings of the gospel of Christ, 
 he was indeed "an example of the believer, in word, in conversa- 
 tion, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." 
 
 Amid many trials and discouragements he ever labored faith- 
 fully to do the work of an evangelist and make full proof of his 
 ministry. He has left upon his diocese the impress of his life and 
 character, and the good seed which he has sown will, we hope and 
 pray, bear abundant fruit to the glory of God. 
 
 But it was not only in the duties of his holy office that we recall 
 his worth and mourn his loss, but as a scholar of polished learning 
 and varied attainments, as a Christian gentleman unsurpassed in 
 the true graces and courtesies of life, as a bright example in all the 
 sweet, delightful relations of social existence, as a citizen and 
 a patriot whose loyalty to his country's cause and honor in the hour 
 of her trial shone unsullied by the prejudices of birth and associa- 
 tion. Of him can it be justly said, "All that a man and a Christian 
 should be, that he was." His Master called him in the midst of his 
 years, and he has gone to that rest and reward to which he looked 
 forward with the eye of faith.
 
 Reverend Edward Ingersoll 39 
 
 He will long be mourned by those to whom he ministered in 
 spiritual things ; his memory and character will be the precious 
 heritage of his diocese ; and his name and fame will live in the an- 
 nals of the American Church. 
 
 J. McCREDIE, 
 
 Clerk of the Vestry. 
 May 1 2th, 186S. 
 
 This memorial was forwarded to the Reverend Mont- 
 gomery Schuyler, then in charge of a parish in Saint 
 Louis, and formerly rector of Saint John's Church, 
 Buffalo. In his letter of acknowledgment he says: 
 
 I thank you, in behalf of the Standing Committee, for being 
 thus remembered by the parish of Trinity Church in the day of our 
 bereavement. I will transmit one of the memorials to Mrs. Hawks, 
 and I have no doubt that it will be peculiarly grateful to her, 
 coming from a flock of whom the Bishop so often spoke with loving 
 
 tenderness. 
 
 Truly your friend, 
 
 M. SCHUYLER. 
 
 In 1 87 1 Mr. Henry W. Rogers removed to Michigan, 
 and severed his connection with the parish; and Mr. 
 James M. Smith, a long-time vestryman, was made war- 
 den in his place. Mr. Rogers was a prominent lawyer 
 and successful business man, and active in all the affairs 
 of the church. He was much missed, both in society 
 and in the parish. Mrs. Rogers's loss to the church and 
 community was deeply felt. A lady of the old school, 
 she was unpretentious and unassuming in character, and 
 won all hearts by her sweetness and sympathy. 
 
 Many representatives from central New York emi- 
 grated here in the early days, forming an intelligent and 
 high-toned circle, whose influence on Buffalo society is 
 still apparent. Among these were Mrs. Mark Sibley, a
 
 40 History of Trinity Church 
 
 devout churchwoman and a most generous giver, and her 
 daughter, Mrs. John Ganson, whose lifelong sorrow in 
 the sudden death of her distinguished husband still has 
 sympathizers in those who knew and admired him in the 
 days so long ago; Doctor and Mrs. James P. White, 
 whose elegant home was the center of a gracefully dis- 
 pensed hospitality, and who were pronounced church 
 people, Doctor White being also one of the leading 
 practitioners in western New York; Mr. and Mrs. Lewis 
 Jenkins, with their lovely family of daughters, of whom 
 Mrs. Jason Sexton was one. 
 
 The golden wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins was 
 celebrated in i860, with a service of prayer and praise, 
 conducted by the Reverend Doctor Ingersoll. The Right 
 Reverend Bishop Coxeand the Reverend Doctor Shelton 
 were also present. One verse of the poem written in 
 their honor seemed to be verified in the closing days of 
 their life together: 
 
 "Now resting on life's steep ascent, 
 
 Its toilsome journey over, 
 They almost see the promised land 
 
 Across the flowing river ; 
 And standing by its swelling tide, 
 
 Thus, side by side, together, 
 How sweet to say, how sweet to know 
 
 It will be thus forever ! " 
 
 Mrs. Jenkins died in April, 1873, and her husband fol- 
 lowed her the next month. It was said of them : " Thus 
 have passed away two pure and beautiful lives, which, 
 though long withdrawn from the bustle and cares of 
 worldly excitement and business, will be cherished in the
 
 Reverend Edward Ingersoll 4 1 
 
 memory of a living circle of friends as among the few 
 consistent examples of Christian character which reaped 
 to the full the promised reward, 'With long life will I 
 satisfy them, and show them my salvation.' The faith 
 which as members of our holy church they professed 
 in early life was their guide and solace during their long 
 earthly pilgrimage, and their household was ever con- 
 ducted in the simplicity and earnestness of the true fol- 
 lowers of Jesus." 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Charles D. Norton were also from 
 Canandaigua ; and, though not members of Trinity, were 
 intimately associated with the names mentioned. John 
 Ganson, Charles D. Norton, and George Gorham are 
 names which have lent brilliance to the legal reputation 
 of Buffalo. Mr. and Mrs. H. L. Lansing also belonged 
 to this colony from central New York. Mr. Trumbull 
 Cary, though not a resident of Buffalo, was so near a 
 neighbor in Batavia, that, looking back to those early 
 times when important people all knew each other, he 
 seems almost like one of us. His son, Doctor Walter 
 Cary, was always a conspicuous figure, and his family for 
 many years filled two pews in old Trinity, and were 
 active workers in church and Sunday school. Doctor and 
 Mrs. Thomas F. Rochester, though of later date, came 
 from Geneva and represented the conservative element 
 so strong in these early residents. Mrs. Rochester, the 
 daughter of Bishop De Lancey, brought to her new home 
 the strong churchly principles in which she had been edu- 
 cated, remarkable literary culture, and the daily example 
 of duty first, which never dies or is forgotten. Doctor 
 Rochester was an extremely popular and beloved physi- 
 cian, and his death was deeply felt in the community.
 
 42 History of Trinity Church 
 
 The custom of presenting memorials was not so gen- 
 eral in the early part of Doctor Ingersoll's rectorate as it 
 became under the new regime ; but we find a record that 
 the first font, which is now with the altar furnishings at 
 the Ingersoll Memorial Church, was purchased with the 
 money earned by little girls who made and sold holders 
 and other practical articles. 
 
 The ecclesiastical candlesticks which were first placed 
 on the altar of old Trinity were brought as a gift from 
 Europe by Miss Maria M. Love. Mrs. Cary and Miss 
 Elizabeth Love at the same time presented an embroi- 
 dered altar cloth and kneeling stool. 
 
 The importance of Mr. S. V. R. Watson's position in 
 the community has been elsewhere alluded to. His 
 interest in the progress of the city was also carried into 
 the affairs of the church, in which he was for several 
 years a vestryman. Since his death, Mrs. Watson has 
 been most liberal in her contributions towards beautify- 
 ing the new church. Two famous La Farge windows have 
 been donated by her as memorials to members of her 
 family. One belongs to the series of chancel windows, 
 and one is placed in the memorial chapel. When the 
 latter was exhibited at the French Exposition by the 
 artist, he was offered a large price for it by the French 
 government. But the first patron would not resign her 
 claim, and it is now a lasting monument to his fame, in 
 the church which some one has said will eventually be the 
 Mecca to which all lovers of artistic work of that kind 
 will journey for study and instruction. Other very beauti- 
 ful windows in the same style are from Tiffany & Co., 
 New York. Most of the windows were presented during 
 the rectorate of Doctor Van Bokkelen.
 
 Reverend Edward Ingersoll 43 
 
 The Ladies' Aid Society insured Doctor Ingersoll's 
 life. The memory of the first two wardens, Henry Daw 
 and Captain Samuel L. Russell, was perpetuated by the 
 erection of tablets within the church, which have since 
 been removed to the memorial chapel of new Trinity. 
 That of Captain Russell was the gift of Bishop Hawks. 
 Later, a tablet was erected to the memory of Jerry Rad- 
 cliffe, which also has been removed to the new church. 
 He was an unassuming and accomplished gentleman, 
 who figured quite prominently in the early annals of the 
 city, and who had several beautiful daughters, afterwards 
 known as Mrs. Robert Hollister, Mrs. William Laverack, 
 Mrs. James A. Cowing, Mrs. Walter Joy, and Mrs. Thomas 
 Kip. 
 
 Upon Doctor Ingersoll's retirement from Trinity he 
 accepted the temporary charge of Saint Peter's Church, 
 Niagara Falls, where he remained two years. On his 
 return to Buffalo, he consented to accept the chaplaincy 
 of the Church Home, and by a resolution of the rector 
 and vestry of Trinity Church, he was elected rector 
 emeritus, which honor was conveyed to him with the 
 accompanying testimony: 
 
 The wardens and vestry of Trinity Church, in common with 
 the parishioners, bear in grateful remembrance the long and faith- 
 ful services of Doctor Ingersoll as their rector; and whereas the 
 present rector has suggested and requested that he be elected rec- 
 tor emeritus of Trinity Church, be it resolved that the position be 
 tendered to Doctor Ingersoll as a token of the esteem of his former 
 parishioners, and that he be requested to unite with them at public 
 worship, taking such part as may be convenient to himself, and 
 with the express understanding that he assumes no labor or respon- 
 sibility by acceptance of the position, except such as he may volun- 
 tarily choose to undertake.
 
 44 History of Trinity Church 
 
 His reply was cordial and characteristic, in which he 
 said: 
 
 I accept the position, assuring you, gentlemen, that I appreci- 
 ate very highly the honor thus conferred upon me. It will be a 
 blessed privilege to unite with you at public worship, in the same 
 church where for so many years I served in the sacred ministry, 
 and it will afford me much pleasure to assist your esteemed rector 
 from time to time, in such services as may be agreeable to him. 
 
 Bishop Coxe, in a letter to the vestry on this subject, 
 writes as follows: 
 
 Assure the vestry of the great respect with which I review their 
 action, honorable as it is to all parties concerned ; a fitting tribute 
 to the honored and beloved divine who so long served them under 
 God, and most creditable to the present incumbent, without whose 
 liberal proposal the vestry could not have tendered such a distinc- 
 tion to his reverend predecessor. 
 
 It is pleasant to discover that long, faithful, and stainless min- 
 istrations at the altar are not always forgotten. 
 
 I pray that Doctor Ingersoll may long be spared to adorn this 
 position, and that every good result may attend this action of the 
 rector and vestry. 
 
 A. CLEVELAND COXE, 
 
 Bishop of Western New York. 
 
 The ending of this long and beautiful life came sud- 
 denly at the Church Home, on the evening of February 
 6th, 1883, the evening of Ash Wednesday. Peacefully, 
 sweetly, without one pang of suffering or dread, " he was 
 not, for God took him." The news of Doctor Ingersoll's 
 death sent a thrill of regret through the community, 
 deep and heartfelt at the loss of so noble a man. None 
 stood higher in the estimation of the public. Of impos- 
 ing presence and deep learning, he filled a pulpit as few
 
 Edward Ingersoll 
 
 1875
 
 Reverend Edward Ingersoll 45 
 
 other men can. Notwithstanding his age, his form was 
 erect and vigorous, and his voice had a sonorous, mu- 
 sical ring which will never be forgotten by those who 
 heard it. As a man and a Christian he was known of 
 all men, and honored of all. 
 
 Mr. James N. Matthews, as editor of the Express, was 
 long a unique figure in American journalism. His tren- 
 chant pen was a terror to his enemies, or those whose 
 course he condemned; but to his friends never knight 
 bore himself more gallantly than he. Generous, sympa- 
 thetic, and tender, his facile pen ever expressed the most 
 touching sympathy for his friends in affliction. A prom- 
 inent member of the Episcopal church, and vestryman of 
 Saint John's, all the church charities received liberally 
 from his hands; and in the diocesan conventions, as well 
 as in the administration of church affairs at home, his 
 voice rang out clear and true. When Saint John's church 
 was divided, the most influential part coming up town 
 with Christ Church, he chose to continue his allegiance 
 to his old parish; and as his church life began there, 
 there it should end. No one has spoken of our deceased 
 rector with higher appreciation or more tender sympathy 
 than he, and we are glad to put on record in this history 
 his beautiful tribute to the memory of Doctor Ingersoll, 
 which appeared in the columns of the Buffalo Express 
 and which carries with it a touching proof of Mr. 
 Matthews's love and respect for the Doctor. 
 
 There never was within our knowledge a more truly lovable 
 character than that which endeared Edward Ingersoll to the hearts 
 of all who had the honor and pleasure of his acquaintance. 
 
 And this is but the simplest form of eulogy that will spring un- 
 bidden to the lips of all who speak of him as they knew him,
 
 46 History of Trinity Church 
 
 whether as the brilliant and singularly handsome young minister 
 who came to Buffalo when elected rector of Trinity Church nearly 
 forty years ago, or as the faithful spiritual guide and domestic friend 
 who went in and out among his flock during a pastorate of over 
 thirty years, or as the venerable and distinguished clergyman who 
 in his later life cheerfully took upon himself the ill-requited and 
 humble chaplaincy of the Home for Destitute and Aged Women, 
 and Orphans. Never was there a man less selfish, never a man 
 more charitable, never a clergyman more devoted. There was 
 this remarkable thing about Doctor Ingersoll — the universal affec- 
 tion which came to him as the natural tribute to his own affectionate 
 disposition. He was admired for those noble gifts which shone 
 alike in the study, at the desk, and in the pulpit. To hear him read 
 the church service was at once a lesson and a comfort, for he 
 always read as he felt, and that was, as he once said to a friend, as 
 if he must read for more than a man's life, — for his soul ! 
 
 To hear him preach was to enjoy an intellectual feast with edi- 
 fication. He was respected for his utterly unselfish devotion to 
 duty. But he was all-loved because it seemed that he was almost 
 Godlike in his love for his fellow-men. He was loved for himself 
 because he was himself. He was loved as one loves a little child, 
 because of all men he was most childlike, in that supreme unworld- 
 liness and that sweet trustfulness which are so rarely found in chil- 
 dren of a larger growth. 
 
 Yet this true Christian's life was one long exemplification of 
 that mystery of affliction which causes men to wonder at the 
 workings of Providence. Sometimes it seemed that unmerited 
 misfortunes fell upon him faster and heavier than poor human- 
 ity could bear. He had a large family : some of the children fell 
 sick and died ; their beloved mother was a hopeless invalid for 
 many years, and he was her constant nurse ; she was taken from 
 him at last when the younger ones that were left most needed a 
 mother's care. 
 
 In his prime, he subdued the promptings of honorable ambition 
 and refused such high preferment in the church as would have 
 brought him wealth and distinction, to remain here, where duty 
 called him early. Yet, when past his prime, he left that cherished 
 charge for a point of principle, in respect to the temporalities of the 
 parish, although it might almost be said he knew not where to 
 lay his head.
 
 Reverend Edward Ingersoll 47 
 
 He was never more truly great than when he made that severe 
 sacrifice. Doctor Ingersoll was "a man of sorrows and acquainted 
 with grief," yet in his old age he could look back with resignation 
 upon his long record of suffering and say, 
 
 " Time has laid his hand 
 Upon my heart, gently, not smiting it, 
 But as a harper lays his open palm 
 Upon his harp, to deaden its vibrations." 
 
 And the end was peace ! 
 
 The funeral services were held in Trinity Church. The 
 ladies decorated and draped the church in accordance 
 with the well-known simple tastes of the late rector 
 emeritus. Bishop Coxe, the Reverend Doctor John W. 
 Brown of Saint Paul's, and the Reverend Doctor Van 
 Bokkelen, assisted by the Episcopal clergy of the city, 
 conducted the service. The remains rested in a red 
 cedar casket, cloth-covered, with trimmings of silver. It 
 bore this inscription : 
 
 Edward Ingersoll, 
 Born November 26th, 1810, 
 Died February 6th, 1883. 
 
 The honorary pallbearers were William Laverack, 
 William H. Walker, Samuel K. Worthington, A. Porter 
 Thompson, Cyrus P. Lee, James M. Smith ; the carriers 
 were John Kimberly, George Gorham, Thomas Cary, 
 George E. Laverack, Hobart Weed, Albert B. Sprague. 
 
 On All Saints' Day following his death, a large alms 
 basin of hammered silver, a set of altar books, and a 
 handsome marble tablet were presented as memorials of 
 Doctor Ingersoll. 
 
 Bishop Coxe preached a sermon in his memory, of 
 which the text was " Mark the perfect man, and behold
 
 48 History of Trinity Church 
 
 the upright: for the end of that man is peace." — Psalm 
 37 : 37. After general remarks on the feast of All Saints, 
 its place in the Christian year, and its practical consola- 
 tions, the Bishop said it was highly appropriate on this 
 occasion to recall the memory of the beloved servant of 
 Christ whose name must be forever associated with this 
 church. 
 
 For thirty years its pastor, he has bequeathed to it as a lasting 
 legacy his pure example and his lofty character. Last year, on 
 this very day, it was my privilege to stand with him at the altar of 
 the little chapel in the Church Home, and to mark the deep feeling 
 with which he ministered. More than once I saw tears in his eyes 
 as he read the touching words of the service, and I knew he was 
 recalling his own beloved dead, and drinking in at the same time 
 all the joy and comfort which are imparted by the words of Him 
 who is the resurrection and the life. At that time two presbyters of 
 this diocese survived, and still went in and out among us, who 
 stood in the first rank of our clergy, whose long and faithful services 
 had endeared them to the whole community, and who were honored 
 by the diocese as its foremost men. They were indeed like those 
 twin columns which adorned the portals of the ancient temple, the 
 one a token of humility and the other of strength, the one indicating 
 reliance on the Most High, while the other gave an example of 
 human effort. The one reminded me of the Ionic pillar in its 
 beauty and classic grace ; the other always stood like a Doric col- 
 umn, a solid and enduring support to whatever rested upon his 
 shoulders. 
 
 There was in their very forms and features respectively a cor- 
 responding character ; both were men of marked personal dignity, 
 and of distinguished presence; but the one was conspicuously 
 graceful, and even beautiful, while the other was noble in expres- 
 sion—rather austerely so than otherwise, for it was only in social 
 intercourse that it beamed with kindness and became benign. 
 
 Each had his appropriate work and sphere, and each attracted 
 appreciating and admiring friends. Together they contributed 
 largely to make the church known and loved in this city, where 
 they lived so long as fellow-workers, and with which they were so
 
 Reverend Edward Ingersoll 49 
 
 identified that as I returned hither last evening it seemed as if the 
 very streets were changed now that Ingersoll and Shelton are no 
 more. 
 
 In choosing a text I might have taken Nathaniel's eulogy, and 
 applied it to Ingersoll, for he was "without guile" ; but I thought 
 rather of that one example of Holy Scripture, of one who could be 
 faithful and yet give no offense to any. ' ' Demetrius hath good 
 report of all men, and of the truth itself." There was but one 
 Demetrius, and our Ingersoll was like him. 
 
 The text I have cited, however, suits the occasion better, for 
 God gave him many trials, but an end so marked in its beauty that 
 it seemed to be the index of his complete and upright career — 
 " The end of that man is peace." And after his many sorrows, his 
 discipline of years, his loss of one to whose virtues the tablet on 
 these walls bears witness, and the griefs of infirmity and age, what 
 a gift of God was such an end as his ! Amid the poor and needy, 
 to whom he ministered so lovingly ; in that home of little children, 
 whom he resembled so closely in purity of heart; — it came to pass 
 that "the angel touched him about the time of the evening obla- 
 tion," and so "he was not, for God took him." 
 
 Very appropriate and beautiful memorials were passed 
 by the vestry of Saint Paul's, the Board of Managers of 
 the Church Home, and a sad tribute of regret from the 
 vestry of Trinity. 
 
 On the first Sunday in Lent, while old Trinity still 
 wore its heavy drapery of black in memory of the late 
 rector emeritus, the rector, the Reverend Doctor Van 
 Bokkelen, in the course of his sermon spoke thus feel- 
 ingly of him: 
 
 The dear and Christian man whom we buried ran well his race, 
 and now the prize is his. His works do follow him. Thoughts of 
 these works are today in many minds. There are sweet memories 
 of his words, fragrant recollections of his deeds. Could we hold 
 converse with him this the first Lord's Day in the palace of the 
 King, he would tell us of the rapture his completed work brings to 
 his sanctified spirit, and how it yearns to have the work finished 
 
 d
 
 5<d History of Trinity Church 
 
 which was left incomplete. He reviews his thirty years of labor in 
 this church. He sees those whom he received into covenant with 
 Christ by holy baptism, the goodly company which he marshaled 
 for the laying on of apostolic hands, the great army which he ad- 
 mitted to holy communion, and for whom he broke the bread of 
 life. He counts them as a shepherd numbers his flock that he 
 may know whether they are still safe in the fold. He thinks of 
 those to whom he called, "Turn ye ; why will ye die? " but they 
 gave no heed — men and women with whom he pleaded with ear- 
 nestness, eloquence, and pathos, "Be ye reconciled to God!" 
 What think you his earnest desire now is ? It is that you join hands 
 with Jesus. 
 
 REQUIESCAT IN PACE.
 
 Arthur Cleveland Coxe 
 
 1866
 
 Bishop Coxe 
 
 A RTHUR CLEVELAND COXE, D. D., LL. D., 
 
 /\ D. C. L. (Oxon.), bishop of the diocese of West- 
 
 ■* *• ern New York, was born in Mendham, New 
 
 Jersey, May ioth, 1 8 1 8. He was the son of the Reverend 
 
 Samuel Hanson Cox, a celebrated Presbyterian divine. 
 
 In 1820 the family moved to New York, where the 
 future bishop received his early education. He was 
 graduated from the University of New York in 1838, 
 and passed thence to the General Theological Seminary, 
 where he commenced his studies for holy orders in 1841. 
 
 He was ordained deacon by Bishop Onderdonk, in 
 Saint Paul's Chapel, New York, June 27th, 1841, and 
 took charge of Saint Ann's Church, Morrisania. On 
 September 25th, 1842, he was ordained to the priesthood 
 by Bishop Brownell, of Connecticut; and in the same 
 year took charge of Saint John's Church, Hartford, where 
 he remained until 1854, when he accepted the rectorship 
 of Grace Church, Baltimore, Maryland. In 1856 he 
 was elected bishop of Texas, but declined. In 1863 he 
 became rector of Calvary Church, New York, where he 
 remained until he was elected coadjutor bishop of West- 
 ern New York, in 1865. He was consecrated in Trinity 
 Church, Geneva, January 4th, 1865. The bishops present 
 were the right reverend doctors De Lancey, Hopkins, 
 McCoskry, Horatio Potter, Odenheimer, and Talbot. On 
 April 5th of the same year Bishop De Lancey died, and 
 his coadjutor became the second bishop of Western New
 
 5 2 History of Trinity Church 
 
 York. He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity 
 from the University of Durham, England, and Saint 
 James's College, Hagerstown, Maryland, in 1856; that 
 of Sacrae Theologiae Doctor from Trinity College, Hart- 
 ford, in 1868; and that of Doctor of Laws from Kenyon 
 College, Gambier, Ohio, in 1868. In 1868 his diocese 
 was divided, and Central New York was committed to 
 other hands. In 1872, the church in Hayti was placed 
 in his charge. He made a visitation to the island, con- 
 secrated the Church of the Holy Trinity, a memorial of 
 Bishop Burgess, ordained six priests and five deacons, 
 and administered the rite of confirmation to a large 
 number of candidates. Bishop Coxe retained the charge 
 of the Haytian church until the consecration of its own 
 bishop, Doctor J. T. Holley, in 1874. Bishop Coxe 
 always took an active interest in oup missions in Greece, 
 and the extension of the church in Mexico. He was a 
 faithful friend to Pere Hyacinthe, and took an active 
 interest in the cause of the Old Catholics in Germany. 
 His " Apology for the English Bible " led to the sup- 
 pression of the new and crude revision of the King 
 James version made at great cost by the American Bible 
 Society. 
 
 The Union Chretienne, a periodical printed in Paris in 
 the interests of Gallicanism by the Abbe Guettee, pub- 
 lished a series of articles from his pen on the subject of 
 Anglican orders. 
 
 In 1869 he published an " Open Letter to Pius IX." 
 in answer to the brief convoking the Vatican Council. 
 This was widely translated and circulated all over Eu- 
 rope. In 1872 he published in Paris his work "L'episco- 
 pat de l'occident," a new presentation of the history of the
 
 Bishop Coxe 53 
 
 Church of England, and in refutation of Roman Catholic 
 attacks. In 1873, in conjunction with Bishop Wilber- 
 force and others, he engaged in a serial publication issued 
 in Oxford in defense of Anglo-Catholic principles against 
 either extreme. He sympathized with the Oxford move- 
 ment so far as it moved within the bounds of Anglo- 
 Catholicity, but he left it as a party after the defection of 
 Doctor Newman; and in 1866 he further clearly defined 
 his position by the publication of " The Criterion," which 
 was republished in England. He was editor in chief of 
 an American edition of the Edinburgh translation of the 
 antenicene fathers. 
 
 Among Bishop Coxe's other writings are " Sermons 
 on Doctrine and Duty " (1855), " Impressions of Eng- 
 land" (1856), "Thoughts on the Services" (1859), 
 "Moral Reforms" (1869), "Apollos; or, The Way of 
 God " (1873), " Christian Institutes " (1887), " Letters to 
 Satolli " (1894). Besides these he has published a large 
 number of tracts, editions, and translations of foreign 
 works, sermons, letters, lectures, and pamphlets, and has 
 been a constant contributor to our leading church reviews 
 and magazines. 
 
 Great as a theologian, he was perhaps still more 
 widely known in the field of general literature. He was 
 a poet of great ability, and his many beautiful hymns 
 have given him an immortal fame. "Advent: a Mys- 
 tery," " Athwold," " Athanasion, and Other Poems," 
 " Hallowe'en," " The Ladye Chace," besides many occa- 
 sional poems at divers times, have come from his gifted 
 pen. But particularly his " Christian Ballads," have made 
 his name a household word in every Christian land. 
 Many there are who say the reading of these poems has
 
 54 History of Trinity Churcli 
 
 shaped their lives and made them the churchmen they are; 
 for the poetic temperament not only wins by its enthusi- 
 asm but convinces by its truth. 
 
 On Friday, January 3d, 1890, at Saint Paul's Cathe- 
 dral, Buffalo, was commemorated the twenty-fifth anni- 
 versary of the Bishop's consecration. The choirs of the 
 several churches of the city, numbering two hundred 
 white-robed choristers, rendered the music. Over eighty 
 of the clergy were present, and the Right Reverend 
 Henry C. Potter, D. D., bishop of New York, preached 
 the sermon. On this memorable occasion the Reverend 
 Doctor Rankine delivered a congratulatory address to 
 the Bishop, and presented, in behalf of the clergy of the 
 diocese, a pastoral staff of exquisite workmanship ; and, 
 in behalf of the trustees of the De Lancey Divinity 
 School and Hobart College, a rare copy of a polyglot 
 Book of Common Prayer. The chancellor of the diocese, 
 Judge James M. Smith, presented the Bishop a purse of 
 two thousand five hundred dollars, the gift of the laymen 
 of the diocese. 
 
 As already stated, in 1868 the diocese was divided, 
 and the portion ceded became the diocese of Central 
 New York. That which remains is today greater, in 
 number of clergy, families, and communicants, than the 
 original diocese; and the value of the church property 
 has vastly increased. We cannot call to mind these 
 manifold blessings but with the deepest gratitude to 
 Almighty God. Said Bishop Potter in his anniversary 
 sermon: "The years come and go, men arise, move in 
 their little sphere, and disappear. But in this diocese 
 Hobart and De Lancey will never be forgotten — nay, 
 nor, thank God, another ! "
 
 Arthur Cleveland Coxe 
 
 [888
 
 Bishop Coxe 55 
 
 Verily, Hobart, De Lancey, and Coxe will never be 
 forgotten. And with deepest fervency of heart we say, 
 " Blessed Lord, we render unto Thee high laud and 
 worthy thanks ; as for all Thy mercies, so especially for 
 all Thou hast wrought for us through choice vessels of 
 Thy grace, who have shone as lights of the world in 
 their several generations, and who do now rest from 
 their labors." 
 
 We must leave the details of the clerical, as well as 
 the literary, history of Bishop Coxe to receive full justice 
 at the hands of his biographer. We trust ere long such 
 memoirs will be published, and become the treasured 
 possession, not only of his diocese, but of the church at 
 large and the world of letters. 
 
 On July 20th, 1896, the diocese of Western New 
 York received the startling and afflicting news of the 
 death of their beloved bishop. He had been quite ill at 
 Clifton Springs, but only a day or two previous had 
 written that he was much better and would soon be able 
 to resume his duties. Then came the appalling message 
 that we should see his face no more. The end came, as 
 he himself had desired, in the midst of labors and with 
 plans ready formed for renewed efforts in the cause that 
 was so near his heart. 
 
 In accordance with the notice of the standing com- 
 mittee, the obsequies of our revered diocesan were ob- 
 served at Trinity Church, Geneva, New York. A solemn 
 procession conveyed the remains from Clifton Springs to 
 Geneva. At the outskirts of the little city they were 
 met by the local clergy in carriages. The procession then 
 moved on to the church, while the bell solemnly tolled 
 in honor of the leader who had passed away. It had
 
 56 History of Trinity Church 
 
 been the desire of the Bishop that everything connected 
 with the funeral services be extremely simple. He had 
 specified that nothing besides the ordinary service of 
 the church should be said. His wishes were carried out 
 as accurately as possible. The coffin was of solid oak 
 with a plain cross on the top, extending the full length 
 of it. The inscription upon the plate was as follows: 
 
 Arthur Cleveland Coxe, 
 Born May ioth, 1S18. 
 Died July 2oth, 1S96. 
 
 While the body lay in state at the foot of the chancel 
 steps, the casket was covered by a purple pall, and upon 
 it at the foot lay two branches of palm, crossed, and at 
 the head the Bishop's miter of purple velvet. The body 
 was clad in the robes in which the Bishop had been con- 
 secrated before that altar thirty-one years before. Be- 
 side him was the plain black walnut staff which he had 
 used from the beginning of his episcopate. The vestry of 
 the church constituted themselves a guard of honor over 
 the body. Two clergymen stood, one at the head, the 
 other at the foot, of the bier, as watchers through the 
 night. During the day the church doors were open, 
 . and a great throng of people of all classes, young and 
 old, rich and poor, came to look for the last time upon 
 the noble face of him they had so loved. 
 
 He was laid to rest in the shadow of the church so 
 dear to him. Over ninety clergymen were present, and 
 letters of sympathy had been received from nearly every 
 bishop of the American church. Nine bishops were 
 present. The hymns were, "My faith looks up to thee," 
 "The strife is o'er," "For all the saints who from their
 
 Bishop Coxe 57 
 
 labors rest," " Hark! the sound of holy voices," "On the 
 resurrection morning," and "Peace, perfect peace." 
 
 It was decided to use in the diocese for thirty days 
 the prayer composed by Bishop Coxe on the death of 
 Bishop De Lancey. The clergy, vestries, and numerous 
 church societies of the diocese passed beautiful and fit- 
 ting resolutions as tributes to the memory of Bishop 
 Coxe, and both the secular and religious press of the 
 country laid their laurels at the feet of him who was not 
 only one of the most conspicuous, but one of the most 
 picturesque figures in the Anglican communion. Sensi- 
 tive to every touch of nature, his heart responded to 
 every human appeal, entering into and sharing whatever 
 interested those with whom he dealt. 
 
 The memorial sermon by Bishop Doane was preached 
 in Saint Paul's Church, Buffalo, Sunday evening, October 
 4th, 1896, the text being from I. Corinthians 1:4-5: "I 
 thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of 
 God which is given you by Jesus Christ; that in every 
 thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in 
 all knowledge." Besides the hundred clergy of the dio- 
 cese, clad in their vestments and headed by the bishop 
 of Albany, there were present many clergymen from 
 other cities, among them the rector of Grace Church, 
 Baltimore, in which Bishop Coxe is so affectionately 
 remembered as former rector. Seats were reserved in 
 front for all the clergy of different denominations in the 
 city, and there were many to pay their respects to his 
 memory. As it is impossible to give the full account 
 of this service, we will merely quote the portion of 
 Bishop Doane's sermon relating to Bishop Coxe's poetic 
 gifts and utterances.
 
 58 History of Tri7tity Church 
 
 The current that set most strongly through the natural temper- 
 ament of the Bishop was the poetic current, in the best sense of 
 that word, and it had its spring and rise neither in Arethusa nor 
 Castaly, but in "Siloa's brook, which flows fast by the oracle of 
 God." 
 
 Now, the poetic nature is not only creative, and not chiefly 
 imaginative ; it is intensely the gift of the seer. Standing as Elisha 
 did, before the marvelous sight of the taking away of his master, 
 the question whether the double portion of that master's spirit 
 should come on him turned on the single point — if he could see 
 him when he was taken away. And he did see him, and therefore 
 the mantle of the prophet fell on him. And it is always so. The 
 seer, the man who sees what is invisible to coarser eyes, is prophet 
 too. For sight not only discovers the things which are near and 
 unseen to others, but widens all horizons, lifts them, enlarges them, 
 carries them out and on. And when the seer speaks, he not only 
 reveals, but prophesies. Eminently Bishop Coxe had this gift, for 
 he was a true poet. And when he wrote " Dreamland " fifty years 
 ago, he was seeing and prophesying. Whatever dreams he dreamed 
 were like Jacob's, in a sleep that was pillowed upon stone, in much 
 hardness and loneliness, in the sense of divine presence, and with 
 the full realization of the old Homeric thought, "The dream is 
 from God." We forget, who have fallen into the easy heritage 
 of religious truths accepted, of ecclesiastical privileges assured, of 
 the glory of Catholic theology acknowledged, and of Catholic 
 worship adopted, we forget the far-sight and the foresight, the clear- 
 ness of wisdom and the courage of utterance, which belonged to 
 the leaders of fifty years ago. A thousand familiar and undisputed 
 things today were not only disputed but denied then ; and in that 
 line of men of whom Seabury and Hobart were the first, and my 
 father and Bishop Whittingham their successors in the older gen- 
 eration, Bishop Williams and Bishop Coxe were easily leaders in 
 the next. 
 
 Suspected, discredited, counted disloyal to the church, de- 
 nounced as Romans in disguise, these men were in the advance 
 guard ; they were of the hope that seemed at times forlorn. They 
 were pioneers who found and cleared the way ; and we who come 
 after them along a smooth and open path forget the risk and pain 
 and labor with which they won our liberties. Constantly it has 
 happened that the leaders of one generation became the holdbacks
 
 Bishop Coxe 59 
 
 and drags of the next ; and the Bishop in his later days was play- 
 ing, to a degree, the role of the men who distrusted him. But the 
 priest who wrote "Dreamland," the priest who was filled with the 
 beauty of holiness, of the worship and reverence due to God's 
 house (into whose sanctuary I believe he never entered, when he 
 could avoid it, without taking the shoes of outdoor use from off his 
 feet), the priest who helped to restore the disused matins and even- 
 song, who was among the first to recognize the Holy Eucharist as 
 the chief act of worship, to be used at least on every Lord's Day, 
 who as bishop said in his last charge to his clergy, "The New 
 Testament tells us clearly to hallow the Lord's Day by the Lord's 
 Supper. This is our law and our rubric, and to this reformation 
 I call you all, in God's name"; the priest who was by nature 
 strict in the observance of all the niceties and proprieties and 
 dignities of divine service, and all this not recently, but fifty years 
 ago, is a man whom we ought to honor for his prophetic power 
 of insight and utterance, for the courage of his maintained posi- 
 tion in the far advance of the front rank to which the host has since 
 come up. 
 
 As an illustration of the difference between his earlier and 
 later experiences, the Bishop was fond of telling a story of his 
 walking, in his boyhood, to old Saint Luke's Church, New York, 
 by a path which led across open fields, on a Christmas morning ; 
 being especially drawn there in order that he might hear sung for 
 the first time Doctor Muhlenberg's Christmas carol, "Shout the 
 glad tidings, exultantly sing; Jerusalem triumphs, Messiah is 
 King ! " and counting it, as it undoubtedly was then, a rich addition 
 to the very scant and poor collection of Christmas hymns. 
 
 And while he was somewhat caustic and severe in his condem- 
 nation of our present hymnal, chiefly because the General Con- 
 vention decided to put it between the same covers with the Book 
 of Common Prayer, he not only rejoiced, but took no little part in 
 the first enlargement of our hymnology, from which, with most 
 positive determination, he absolutely excluded every hymn of his 
 own. I am quite clear that the last committee has been wiser than 
 he in this behalf, in that we have given to the church for use in its 
 treasures of sacred song many hymns of his composing. One of 
 them, at least,— "Saviour, Sprinkle Many Nations,"— is among the 
 first of our Christian lyrics, and among the most stirring of our 
 missionary hymns.
 
 60 History of Trinity Church 
 
 One turns over page after page of his collection of "Christian 
 Ballads," struck by the true prophetic insight of his inspiration as 
 well as by the sonorous meter and rhythm of his verse. He cer- 
 tainly was enriched in all utterance, both of the eloquence which 
 means outspeaking, and the brilliant powers of the orator, and 
 enriched in the utterance of true poetic gifts. 
 
 I have spoken of the felicity of his utterance. And it will not, 
 I think, seem unnatural if I seek to set some of his own jeweled 
 words in the crown of honor, some fadeless bay from his laureate 
 brow in the fading leaves of this wreath of brotherly affection 
 which I am here to lay upon his tomb. 
 
 As a specimen of poetical interpretation of poetry, of appreci- 
 ative knowledge of nature, and its consecration, in his view of it, to 
 the service of God, and of keen sympathy, almost to realism, with 
 the idea and feeling of the seasons of the Christian year, nothing 
 can be finer than his "Carol," whose text is the passage in the 
 Song of Songs, "My beloved has gone down into his garden," 
 that garden being 
 
 " The alleys broad 
 Of the Church of God, 
 Where Nature is green for aye." 
 
 He describes the complete banishment of winter from the church's 
 seasons, when the flowing font 
 
 " Still will gush 
 In free, full flush 
 At the cry of a little child." 
 
 And it is a bold thought that comes to him when the hues through 
 the colored windows tint it with " ruby stain " 
 
 " Of Moses' rod 
 And the Rocks of God, 
 That flushed in ruddy wine." 
 
 Really, the church's year seems more actual to him than the 
 seasons of the outdoor world. 
 
 " The gales through the woodland aisles " 
 
 to his ear 
 
 " Like the Lord's own organ blow ";
 
 Bishop Coxe 61 
 
 and 
 
 is 
 
 The bush in the winter-time in his greenwood walk " 
 
 " Surpliced with snows, like the bending priest 
 That kneels in the church to pray." 
 
 He describes a Christian child in the church's care in these 
 words : 
 
 " Planted by the altar's pale, 
 
 The church, with catechising art, 
 Trains to the chancel's trellised rail 
 The wandering tendrils of the heart." 
 
 His visit to Iona, which he called "a Patmos of the frozen 
 north," stirs in him the memory of Seabury, 
 
 " Whose hand the rod of David's stem 
 The farthest westward bore," 
 
 "Who crossed the seas 
 And brought from distant Aberdeen 
 Gifts of the old Culdees "; 
 
 and "The Blessed Island " inspires the play on names, with a word 
 of truth in it, — 
 
 " Columbia from Columba claims 
 More than great Colon brought." 
 
 There are phrases of his verse which are really epigrammatic 
 in their power. His description of an old-time New England 
 meeting-house as 
 
 " A pine-wood Parthenon or Pnyx, 
 
 A hippogriff of art, 
 By crude Genevan rites begot, 
 
 Half temple, and half mart; 
 A type of changing shifts, 
 
 A hall, low roofed and tinned, 
 On which a wooden Babel lifts 
 
 Its weather-cock to wind." 
 
 Or, in a more serious vein, in his description of Oxford as contain- 
 ing 
 
 " The cells where sages have been born 
 And human lore baptized."
 
 62 History of Trinity Church 
 
 What he himself described in his dedication to Doctor Hobart 
 of the "Christian Ballads" as "the glistening dews of boyhood" 
 never dried upon his brow. The freshness of his spirit was peren- 
 nial. Within an hour of his death he was so absorbed in what his 
 companion called "an illuminating conversation " on the resurrec- 
 tion of the dead, that he lost all sense of time and trains, and of 
 the needed nourishment of food. And to the very end what he 
 called the "glow of his early vow" rested upon him like a halo, in 
 all its warmth and brightness. 
 
 I have not spoken of some rich utterances of the Bishop in the 
 volumes which he published from time to time. I have been con- 
 cerned more with the poetry of his younger days, which he called 
 himself " Hymns of my Boyhood," than with the ripe beauty of the 
 poems in his last volume called "The Paschal," because the earlier 
 verses had in them the poetic element of prophecy. And I have 
 omitted all mention of his "Thoughts on the Services," and of 
 " Apollos," not from lack of appreciation, but from lack of space 
 and time ; gladly acknowledging the debt that very few people owe 
 to them, as introductions, the one to a knowledge of the Book of 
 Common Prayer, and the other to a recognition of the place in 
 Christendom which is filled by this church as being the hope and 
 opportunity of Christian unity in the Catholicity of its Protestant- 
 ism and the Protestantism of its Catholicity. But the very lovely 
 memory of that gray summer day in Geneva last July almost 
 forces me to recall what I am sure was in all our hearts and seemed 
 to sound in our ears at the simple and beautiful service of his burial, 
 when we laid him 
 
 " To sleep where the church bells aye ring out." 
 
 " Our mother the church hath never a child 
 
 To honor before the rest, 
 But she singeth the same for mighty kings 
 
 And the veriest babe on her breast ; 
 And the bishop goes down to his narrow bed 
 
 As the plowman's child is laid, 
 And alike she blesseth the dark-browed sert 
 
 And the chief in his robe arrayed. 
 She sprinkles the drops of the bright new-birth 
 
 The same on the low and the high, 
 And christens their bodies with dust to dust, 
 
 When earth with its earth must lie.
 
 Bishop Coxe 6 
 
 o 
 
 And wise is he in the glow of health 
 
 Who weaveth his shroud of rest, 
 And graveth it plain on his coffin-plate 
 
 That the dead in Christ are blessed." 
 
 By this partial quotation from the complete whole of 
 the memorial sermon, we can realize the appropriateness 
 of the text as applied to the character of Bishop Coxe — 
 richness, utterance, knowledge. 
 
 In the memory of his blessed " falling asleep," how 
 beautiful are the words of Bishop Coxe in regard to 
 the death of our beloved rector Doctor Ingersoll! Of 
 both it may be said, " The angel of the Lord waited for 
 them and bore them up on a shining cloud to heaven; 
 and their end was peace."
 
 And then, said I, one thing there is 
 
 That I of the Lord desire, 
 That ever, while I on earth shall live, 
 
 I will of the Lord require, 
 That I may dwell in His temple blest 
 
 As long as my life shall be, 
 And the beauty fair of the Lord of Hosts 
 
 In the home of His glory see. 
 
 BISHOP COXE.
 
 Christ Church 
 
 As originally designed
 
 Consolidation of Christ Church 
 with Trinity 
 
 IN reaching the period in the history of Trinity Parish 
 when a change from their unfavorable location on 
 Washington and Mohawk streets to some point up- 
 town seemed imperative, a consolidation of the two 
 parishes of Trinity and Christ Church was strongly 
 urged; and early in 1883 the Reverend Doctor Van 
 Bokkelen, rector of Trinity Church, and the Reverend 
 A. Sidney Dealey, rector of Christ Church, had repeated 
 conferences upon the subject. When they had formu- 
 lated the plan, it was submitted to the vestries of the 
 churches, and a committee from each was appointed to 
 discuss the feasibility of such consolidation, and, if prac- 
 ticable, the method by which it should be accomplished. 
 A long and somewhat animated discussion ensued, in 
 which the various newspapers of the city took such an 
 active part that what at first was a matter of parish con- 
 cern rapidly enlarged into what seemed to be of vital 
 interest to the municipality. 
 
 Many difficulties presented themselves to the rectors 
 and vestries, some of them of an intricate legal nature. 
 There was a very strong undercurrent of feeling among 
 the parishioners of Christ Church against the movement, 
 because a small church rarely consolidates successfully 
 with a large one. The congregation was comparatively 
 a small one, but its members were united and much in 
 earnest in promoting the prosperity of the parish; and 
 
 e 65
 
 66 History of Trinity Church 
 
 by the hearty cooperation and liberal offerings of all the 
 parishioners the mortgage of ten thousand dollars was 
 paid in February, 1882, and Christ Church stood free 
 from debt; and on the sixteenth of February, 1882, the 
 church was consecrated by the Right Reverend Arthur 
 Cleveland Coxe, D. D., bishop of the diocese. The ser- 
 mon on that occasion was preached by the Reverend O. 
 Witherspoon, rector of Saint James's Church, Birming- 
 ham, Connecticut, who had been the rector of Christ 
 Church on its first organization, and who came to rejoice 
 with his former parishioners in the prosperity of the 
 organization of which he had witnessed the beginning. 
 The Bishop also expressed to the congregation the great 
 joy of his heart at this time, for it had been filled with 
 anxiety, hope, and fear. 
 
 In view of all these circumstances, it was quite nat- 
 ural that the parishioners of Christ Church were opposed 
 to the consolidation. They were attached to their parish, 
 and felt that they had made very great sacrifices to free 
 it from debt; but the position of the church was not a 
 favorable one for a small parish ; it was surrounded by a 
 population belonging to other churches, and was shut oft 
 from participation in the growth which was taking place 
 in outlying parts of the city. The influence of the Bishop 
 was thrown in favor of the consolidation, and he urged 
 the parish, as a duty, to sink all personal and minor 
 differences and look at the matter in a broad, Christian 
 spirit, and in the light of the general interest of the 
 church. 
 
 Finally, all obstacles were removed; and on June 
 14th, 1884, Judge Lewis granted a decree of consolida- 
 tion between Trinity and Christ Church parishes, and a
 
 Consolidation with CJirist Church 67 
 
 new corporation was organized, to be known as Trinity 
 Church, Buffalo. To this Christ Church gave its prop- 
 erty on Delaware Avenue, consisting of a lot eighty by 
 one hundred and seventy-eight feet, and the church 
 edifice, with all its other properties to a value of about 
 sixty thousand dollars. It was agreed that Trinity Parish 
 should purchase the adjacent lot on the north, eighty-five 
 by one hundred and seventy-eight feet, and erect thereon 
 a building to cost not less than seventy-five thousand 
 dollars, and to accommodate not less than seven hun- 
 dred and fifty persons. It was also agreed that in the 
 erection of the new Trinity Church " no encumbrance of 
 any kind shall be placed upon the present property ot 
 Christ Church." There was also a verbal agreement that 
 its church edifice should always be known as " Christ 
 Chapel," as an act of courtesy and remembrance of the 
 gift of the property to the new corporation. 
 
 The wardens and vestrymen till the first election, in 
 1885, were to be selected equally from Christ Church and 
 Trinity. The rector was to be the Reverend Libertus 
 Van Bokkelen, D. D., and the associate rector the Rev- 
 erend A. Sidney Dealey of Christ Church. A building 
 committee was selected from the two congregations, con- 
 sisting of the two rectors, and Messrs. Rufus L. Howard, 
 Leonidas Doty, Frank W. Fiske, Henry M. Watson, 
 Asaph S. Bemis, Peter C. Doyle, and Samuel D. Colie. 
 
 It was decided to build the new church upon the 
 same foundation which was laid in 1869 for Christ 
 Church, with the exception of the southern transept. 
 Divine worship was continued by the rectors — the 
 morning service at old Trinity on Washington Street, the 
 evening and week-day services at Christ Church.
 
 68 History of Trinity Church 
 
 On Easter Day, 1885, the Reverend A. Sidney 
 Dealey resigned his position as associate rector, and 
 accepted the charge of Saint Luke's Church, Jamestown, 
 New York. Thus the whole duty of the consolidated 
 parishes devolved upon the rector of Trinity. 
 
 The new corporation owes its present structure and 
 position to the earnest and self-sacrificing work of Doctor 
 Van Bokkelen. 
 
 With the issuing of the decree of consolidation, the 
 existence of Christ Church ceased, and it has no further 
 history. 
 
 Note. — It is perhaps permissible to recall to a younger generation that 
 Christ Church parish was an offshoot from Saint John's Church, then situated on 
 the corner of Washington and Swan streets, and was started under the rectorship 
 of the Reverend Orlando Witherspoon in the year 1869. He was succeeded by 
 the Reverend M. C Hyde; and the third and last rector was the Reverend A. 
 Sidney Dealey, who began his work in the church on Advent Sunday, 1879. The 
 wardens at that time were Thomas Dennis and Asher P. Nichols. The vestrymen 
 were William G. Fargo, Albert P. Laning, Asaph S. Bemis, James G. Forsyth, 
 Samuel D.Colie, Hobart B. Loomis, C Valette Kasson, and Bronson C Rumsey. 
 — Editor.
 
 Libertus Van Bokkelen
 
 Reverend Libertus Van Bokkelen 
 
 1874-1886 
 
 ON the resignation of Doctor Ingersoll, the Rev- 
 erend Libertus Van Bokkelen, D. D., LL. D., 
 was called to the rectorship of Trinity Church. 
 He brought to his new work a shrewd business capacity, 
 a fund of enthusiasm and energy, great tact in dealing 
 with men, and an unusual ability in the pulpit. Add to 
 this a sincere and heartfelt desire to promote the inter- 
 ests of the church and the great truths of the Christian 
 religion, and we can see he was well fitted for the crisis 
 in which he found himself placed. 
 
 He was born in the city of New York, July 22, 18 15, 
 the second in a family of thirteen children — eleven sons 
 and two daughters — all of whom reached adult years. 
 His paternal grandfather, a physician, came from Hol- 
 land in 1796, being exiled by the French government 
 because of his adherence to the House of Orange. He 
 brought with him two sons, the youngest of whom, the 
 father of the subject of this sketch, was educated in New 
 York as a merchant. Dr. Van Bokkelen's maternal grand- 
 father was a native of Wales, and thus the blood of two 
 sturdy nations was blended in his veins. 
 
 From the age of nine he was educated at boarding 
 schools. The last was the Flushing Institute, under Rev- 
 erend Doctor Muhlenberg, whose influence seemed to 
 shape his whole course in life, and to whose memory he 
 
 69
 
 70 History of Trinity Church 
 
 was devoted. He was well qualified to be a teacher, as up 
 to the year 1 864, when he was forty-nine years of age, 
 he had never lived outside of a school or college, hav- 
 ing been either pupil, tutor, professor, or principal during 
 these years. In 1842 he took priest's orders, and for some 
 years combined the ministry with educational work. In 
 1845, by invitation of Bishop Whittingham, he went to 
 Catonsville, Maryland, where he founded the institution 
 known as Saint Timothy's Hall, which achieved great suc- 
 cess. It accommodated one hundred and fifty students, 
 who were organized under military discipline. To this 
 institution the legislature of Maryland granted a liberal 
 charter with all the usual collegiate power in conferring 
 degrees. This success gave Doctor Van Bokkelen a wide 
 reputation, and he was not only honored in his own state, 
 but received invitations to various other parts of the 
 Union to establish schools and collegiate institutions. 
 
 The Civil War broke up his associations in Maryland, 
 as has been before alluded to. During the war Doctor 
 Van Bokkelen was an ardent, active, and aggressive Union 
 man, and did all he could to sustain the loyal sentiment 
 of the community in which he resided. He was an origi- 
 nal Abolitionist, and looked back with sincerest satisfac- 
 tion to his early interest in that cause ; and in speaking 
 of it once said, " Thank God, I have lived to see slavery 
 abolished, and America the home of the free ! " 
 
 He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws 
 from La Fayette and Marshall College, Pennsylvania. 
 
 At length, with great regret on his own part, and that 
 of the community of Catonsville, he decided to remove 
 to Mount Morris, in western New York, where he re- 
 mained until called to the rectorship of Trinity Church.
 
 Reverend Liber tus Van Bokkelen 7 1 
 
 He was married in 1850 to Amelia, youngest daughter 
 of John Netterville D'Arcy, formerly a leading mer- 
 chant of Baltimore, and had a family of five children. 
 At the time of his removal to Buffalo, his wife was in 
 delicate health, and died a few years later. The marked 
 characteristic of the family was their loyal and affection- 
 ate devotion to each other. The elder daughter married 
 and went to Baltimore; the younger died quite suddenly 
 before her invalid mother; and since the Doctor's death 
 his son Libertus, who had been ordained a priest in the 
 church, has also passed to his reward. Death and sorrow 
 have broken up the once happy family circle, and the echo 
 of its sadness still lingers with those who remain. 
 
 Doctor Van Bokkelen was rector of Trinity Church 
 for twelve years, and during that time added materially 
 to its prosperity by his untiring energy. From the time 
 of his assuming the rectorate his mind was fixed on 
 bringing about the consolidation of the two parishes of 
 Trinity and Christ, which had already been attempted 
 without success. In an eloquent sermon which he 
 preached on this subject, he closed with these words: 
 " In the name of the Lord, go forward ! Halt no longer 
 between two opinions. What thy hand findeth to do, 
 do it with all thy might. Count it a privilege to be- 
 gin this work, so often thought of, so earnestly desired, 
 so long delayed. It will give you great joy; it will im- 
 part fresh life and vigor to the whole church in Buffalo; 
 it will arouse enthusiasm which will command success." 
 
 Happily this wise project was at length fulfilled, and 
 Doctor Van Bokkelen, while attending to his daily parish 
 duties, added to them his consultations with the vestry 
 on the building of the new church. The ladies of the
 
 72 History of Trinity Church 
 
 parish formed a furnishing society, worked long and 
 faithfully, and earned by their sales sufficient money to 
 carpet and cushion the church, to pay for the large rose 
 window which was put in by La Farge, and to do much 
 towards the completing of the guild rooms. All the 
 societies of the church were in active working condition. 
 The mothers' meetings, held Wednesday evenings in the 
 Sunday school room, usually comprised from forty to 
 sixty women and a few grown boys and girls. After a 
 prayer and the singing of hymns, the reading of some 
 interesting book closed the service. There was also a 
 kitchen garden class. A cooperative society for the help 
 of the poor in connection with the Charity Organization 
 Society was started. 
 
 The Sunday school was prosperous, and the congrega- 
 tion seemed at last roused to interest and enthusiasm in 
 church work. The sale of the old church property was 
 made to the Liedertafel Musical Association, and the pur- 
 chase of the new lot adjoining Christ Chapel on Delaware 
 Avenue having been satisfactorily accomplished, rector, 
 congregation, and workmen were all busily preparing for 
 the removal. 
 
 On July 22d, 1884, the corner stone of new Trinity 
 Church was laid. The lot on Delaware Avenue adjoin- 
 ing Christ Church had been secured at the price of six- 
 teen thousand dollars, and the same foundation was used 
 that years before had been begun for Christ Church. 
 The plans for this church, made in 1869 by Arthur Gilman, 
 of New York, were adapted to the new requirements by 
 Mr. Cyrus K. Porter; and Messrs. Charles Berrick and 
 John Briggs, contractors, were engaged to construct the 
 building. The ceremony of laying the corner stone was
 
 Reverend Liberties Van Bokkelen j^ 
 
 participated in by Bishop Coxe, twenty clergymen, the 
 surpliced choirs of Trinity and Saint Luke's, the vestries 
 of Trinity and Christ churches, and the members of the 
 building committee; and witnessed by a congregation of 
 several hundred people. At five o'clock the imposing 
 ecclesiastical procession issued from the chapel and 
 proceeded to the platform erected for the ceremonial. 
 After an appropriate service the Reverend A. Sidney 
 Dealey read a list of the articles deposited in the box 
 beneath the corner stone. There was a Hebrew Bible, 
 procured by Doctor Van Bokkelen, a book of common 
 prayer and a hymnal owned by Doctor Ingersoll, and 
 also the last sermon preached by him as rector of old 
 Trinity, April, 1874. When the stone had been lowered 
 into its place, the bishop, clergy, and choristers returned 
 to the chapel, where the ritual was concluded with 
 prayer and benediction. 
 
 A new organ had been placed in the old church, 
 which was ultimately removed to the new one. A 
 plan for choral singing was made by the Doctor, and 
 boys were put in training for it. Through his influence, 
 also, many memorial gifts were promised. All of the 
 chancel windows were to be memorials, and many of those 
 in the nave were engaged for the same purpose. It is 
 greatly to be regretted that the original plan of the 
 building, as made by the vestry of Christ Church, could 
 not have been carried out; but the earnest desire of the 
 rector to take his leave from the new church, and the 
 funds not being sufficient to perfect the original plans, it 
 was decided to omit the clerestory and to leave the tower 
 for future consideration. The new church, though artis- 
 tically lacking much in these respects, has a most lux-
 
 74 History of Trinity Church 
 
 urious and pleasing interior, its large chancel and wide 
 aisles being particularly adapted to all the needs of a 
 large congregation. 
 
 We find in one of the newspapers of this date a para- 
 graph from Bishop Coxe, which seems to embody all the 
 facts then under consideration, and will take the history 
 of the church on towards completion : 
 
 The new church of Trinity Parish in this city is rapidly com- 
 ing to a state of completion ; but owing to the necessary delay of 
 the decorative work it will not be ready for divine service (nor per- 
 haps is it desirable that it should be so) until Easter. That will be 
 the appropriate day for such a joyful event, and will associate it 
 with the rare occasion of an Easter falling on its lowest possible 
 limit, the twenty-fifth of April. 
 
 The Reverend Doctor Van Bokkelen, to whose indefatigable 
 labors this consummation is primarily due, has from the beginning 
 of this enterprise kept before his congregation the fact that he con- 
 siders it not only the crowning of his work in Buffalo, but the nat- 
 ural conclusion of his work in the parish. ' ' I wish its future, ' ' he has 
 often said, " to be intrusted to a younger clergyman, and one whose 
 full strength and prime can be devoted to its development under its 
 new conditions and enlarged opportunity for usefulness." 
 
 According to his already avowed intention, therefore, 
 the Doctor submitted his formal resignation to the ves- 
 try, to take effect after Easter, 1886. 
 
 Doctor Van Bokkelen was a very manly sort of man, 
 full of the courage of a great many honest convictions 
 with regard to his duty to the state as well as the church, 
 and consequently did not escape criticism ; but he achieved 
 a great work for Trinity Church, and should be honored 
 for it. 
 
 Many joyous as well as sad recollections cluster about 
 old Trinity's venerable edifice. Some notable weddings,
 
 Reverend Liberties Van Bokkclen 7 5 
 
 beautiful in the grouping of fair young faces, stand forth 
 in memory's picture. That of Miss Jennie Cary to Law- 
 rence Rumsey formed a galaxy of beauty ; and one of its 
 touching features was the assembling in the vestibule of 
 the bride's infant scholars of the Sunday school, who 
 strewed flowers in her pathway as she passed to the car- 
 riage. 
 
 The wedding of Miss Anna Dobbins to Mr. James 
 P. White was a notably brilliant event. The celebrated 
 singer Clara Louise Kellogg was a bridesmaid. Many 
 more such pictures hang on memory's wall which we 
 would gladly photograph for the reader. 
 
 Among the shadows rests the memory of a most at- 
 tractive young couple but a few years married, who were 
 happy in their lives and in their death were not divided 
 — Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Pease, who met their fate to- 
 gether, February 5th, 1871, in a terrible railroad accident 
 on the Hudson River. The two coffins rested side by 
 side in front of the altar where as children they had 
 knelt. The service was sad beyond expression, and the 
 sympathetic audience was deeply affected by it. 
 
 Another victim of the same disaster — also a member 
 of Trinity Church — was Mr. Rollin Germain, son-in-law 
 of Judge Philander Bennett. The funeral services were 
 conducted by the Reverend Doctor Ingersoll from the 
 family residence. The pallbearers were Messrs. Henry W. 
 Rogers, James O. Putnam, Benjamin H. Austin, junior, 
 James D. Sawyer, Jesse C. Dann, Samuel G. Cornell, 
 Robert Dunbar, and William Lovering. Mr. Germain was 
 a well-known and much respected citizen, a lawyer by pro- 
 fession, and with a mechanical genius which had obtained a 
 high reputation. Two of the fastest gunboats belonging
 
 j6 History of Trinity Church 
 
 to the American navy at that time, the Avenger and the 
 Vindicator, were built by him on a plan of his own. Mr. 
 Germain had a very remarkable dream a short time 
 before his death, which seemed to impress him as a 
 premonition, and which he spoke of to several friends. 
 After his death some lines were found in his trunk de- 
 scribing this experience in rhyme, in which the horrors 
 of water and fire both appear. It was published as a 
 remarkable fact in some of the journals of the day. 
 Several other well-known persons from Buffalo were 
 among the sufferers, but those mentioned were the only 
 ones members of Trinity. The clergymen of the different 
 churches of the city all dwelt upon the terrible disaster 
 in their sermons of the Sunday following. 
 
 Perhaps in one sense sadder still was the memorial 
 service for Mary Knowlton Mixer, who met a similar 
 fate at Ashtabula. The choir of Saint Paul's Church 
 united with that of Trinity to mourn one of whom Doctor 
 Shelton spoke as "the sweet singer of our Israel," and 
 together the two choirs sang the service. Miss Underhill, 
 the soprano, gave Mendelssohn's " Song of Parting," the 
 words of which were the last ever sung by Miss Mixer. 
 
 "Calmly the waves of ocean roll 
 Over my fainting, fleeting soul, 
 Parting earth's friendships and rending in twain 
 Hearts that will soon be united again 
 On heaven's celestial plain. 
 
 Swiftly before a purer day, 
 
 Fade now yon golden stars away ; 
 
 Lo ! realms of brightness now burst on my sight, 
 
 Fast I am speeding from regions of night 
 
 To heaven's eternal light."
 
 Reverend Libei'tus Van Bokkelen 7 7 
 
 The Reverend Doctor Van Bokkelen's sermon was 
 most feeling and appropriate, and kind hearts and loving 
 hands brought to the altar lilies and roses for remem- 
 brance. 
 
 But how can we even name either in joy or in sorrow 
 the many notable events which have occurred within 
 these walls ! To pass down the aisles and count the 
 missing faces of those whose counsels and support have 
 led the church through the sixty years of its existence 
 would be to record many of the most influential names of 
 Buffalo, and, alas ! to recall the tragedies of many homes. 
 
 The church which we have builded stands today 
 Memorial of those far, far away, 
 Whose haunting presence still so sweet, so strong, 
 Through its broad aisles and graceful arches throng, 
 And solemn melodies repeat the thought 
 Our love and faith together have inwrought, 
 Moving each soul with reverence to pray 
 As the uplifted cross goes on its way. 
 
 The last Easter day (1885) which the congregation 
 passed in the old church was a memorable one. A no- 
 tice had been printed in the daily papers as follows : 
 
 It is desired that every member of the parish will take part in 
 the farewell services, and will aid the committee of decoration by 
 contributing money, flowers, or personal assistance, to make this 
 shrine of many memories beautiful for the last time. 
 
 The newspaper account of the decorations says : 
 
 The display of flowers at Trinity Episcopal Church is immense. 
 Every window of this old-fashioned sanctuary is a miniature flower 
 garden. The chancel is literally packed with flowers. The font
 
 7 8 History of Trinity Church 
 
 seems to stand in the midst of a bouquet of calla lilies. The altar 
 is festooned with smilax and decorated with choice roses and car- 
 nations. When the clusters of candles, which are on and around 
 the altar, are lighted at this morning's service, the sight cannot be 
 other than exceedingly beautiful. As one looked upon the scene 
 yesterday afternoon, he fancied that the ladies must have felt much 
 affection for the church in which they have kept so many pious 
 Easters, and were determined that it should put on its most beauti- 
 ful garments now that they do not expect to keep another Easter 
 within its walls. The decorations were under the direction of Mrs. 
 S. F. Mixer, who was assisted by a dozen or two of the ladies. 
 
 It was decided to remove from the old place of wor- 
 ship July 5th, 1885, and to hold service in Christ Chapel 
 until the following Easter Day, when the new church 
 would be formally opened. The last services were solemn 
 and impressive. Loving hands decorated the old church 
 with the tenderness, and with much of the same sorrow, 
 as they would have laid flowers upon a grave. The 
 windows were banked with wild and cultivated flowers; 
 the altar was a mass of pond lilies, roses, and greenery. 
 The lectern was draped with green, and the chancel steps 
 were bordered with potted plants and large vases of flow- 
 ers placed en masse. The baptismal font was filled with 
 fragrant blossoms, and over the chancel hung a floral tri- 
 angle (the emblem of Trinity) bearing the dates 1836- 
 1885, and the inscription "Our Sacred Dead." Most of 
 the clergymen of the city were present. 
 
 We have space for only a portion of the eloquent ser- 
 mon of Bishop Coxe, from the text in Ecclesiastes, "To 
 every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose 
 under the heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; 
 a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is 
 planted."
 
 Reverend Liber tits Van Bokkelen 79 
 
 I envy not the feelings of any man capable of reflection on the 
 histories summed up in a moment like this who does not deeply 
 feel that it is a solemn thing to hear and to join in these offices with- 
 in these walls for the last time. To me, for obvious reasons, noth- 
 ing presents itself with more solemnity than the scene which imag- 
 ination conjures up upon that nineteenth day of January, 1843, when 
 the work began within these walls. I seem to see the noble figure, the 
 splendid presence, of my saintly predecessor, and to hear the voice 
 with which at yonder door he began the solemn office of the church, 
 the ministration of consecration of these walls. Nay, I seem to see 
 him as when I first beheld him in the robes of his episcopate, goodly, 
 and among many brethren chief, reciting those splendid words of 
 the psalmist, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates ; and be ye lift up, ye 
 everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in." 
 
 What he thus came to plant, after grafting the vigorous shoot 
 and bearing much fruit to these many years, it is my humble and in 
 some sense painful duty to pluck up. Painful it would be beyond 
 everything, were it not for the thought that in plucking this up I 
 merely carry on the work which he then began, and which it would 
 have warmed his noble heart to foresee, these walls giving place to 
 nobler walls, enlarging the place of the habitation of this congrega- 
 tion, and effecting a transference well worthy to correspond with the 
 closing collect of consecration, that there "the worship of God may 
 be continued throughout all generations." 
 
 This momentary retrospect makes exceedingly pointed the lan- 
 guage which introduces the text, "For everything there is a season." 
 We are invited to reflect for a moment on the generation that has 
 been born, and the generation that has passed away since this work 
 began. The elders from time to time die ; another generation has 
 found "time to be born," and children of the third generation are 
 here today joining in this solemnity as those who will tell a genera- 
 tion yet to come, and in the next century, the history of this day and 
 what they remember of the old Trinity Church. "A time to be 
 born, and a time to die !" Yes, I suppose that all those who ac- 
 companied the Bishop in consecrating this place — I mean as rever- 
 end brethren, who then in goodly array entered with him into the 
 solemnity of that occasion— have passed away. Surely none remain 
 of those who were then resident in the city, and perhaps none who 
 were then part of the clergy of his diocese. We look back, then, on 
 our predecessors to the silent tomb. We are assembled here today 
 in recognition of the fact given in the text.
 
 80 History of Trinity Church 
 
 These walls were reared in the appointed time. It was a time 
 when the congregation was feeble and the people were not wealthy ; 
 it was a time when they were young and energetic and active, and 
 ready to make a beginning. Then they planted, and the building 
 has grown and has borne its increase. Oh, how solemn is the in- 
 quiry, In what proportion have we helped in that increase? 
 
 In conclusion the Bishop implored his brethren enter- 
 ing the place of the Lord to discharge well their tremen- 
 dous responsibilities in this regard for the glory of God. 
 In the different stages of his own personal history he had 
 always found something intensely solemn in the closing 
 up of any relation, — leaving the home of his boyhood and 
 the watchful care of father and mother to enter college 
 life; or, again, leaving college for manhood's duties, or the 
 city of his birth, or the winding up of a ministry. 
 
 "And now," said he, "the lengthening shadows of 
 life's evening are sailing over me and I must reflect how 
 soon the great close must come." 
 
 The clergy, headed by the Bishop, then left the chan- 
 cel and proceeded to the vestibule, returning as the Bishop 
 read the ninetieth psalm, while the congregation joined 
 responsively. Prayers having been offered, the Bishop 
 read the formal document, signed with his own seal, de- 
 claring the secularization of the building and its release 
 from canonical jurisdiction. The excellent musical part 
 of the service included the Cantata Domine in E, by 
 Buck, Benedicite, chant, hymn in, and a fine offertory 
 anthem, the "Pilgrim's March," from "Tannhauser." 
 Hymn 297, sung to the tune of Old Hundred, was gener- 
 ally participated in by the large congregation. The 
 Nunc Dimittis was solemnly sung by the quartet, and 
 then the congregation passed out for the last time,
 
 Reverend Liberties Van Bokkelen 8 1 
 
 while the organ played a march from Gounod's "Ro- 
 maine." It was an impressive service, long to be remem- 
 bered in the annals of the Episcopal churches of Buffalo. 
 The farewell words of Doctor Van Bokkelen to his 
 congregation were preached in Trinity Chapel, Easter 
 even, 1886, from the comforting words of the Savior 
 according to Saint John, " And I, if I be lifted up from 
 the earth, will draw all men unto me." The opening sen- 
 tences of the sermon were an exposition of the text as 
 suitable to the solemn incidents of the Savior's bitter 
 passion and precious death. The concluding part di- 
 rected the attention of the congregation to the three 
 crosses which were erected on Calvary more than eight- 
 een centuries ago, and concluded with an earnest appeal 
 to his parishioners to choose the right way and accept 
 salvation, that life might be happy, death glorious, and 
 eternity a season of everlasting joyfulness. Before the 
 closing benediction the retiring rector advanced towards 
 the congregation and said: 
 
 I have preached to you, my friends, my last sermon, and I have 
 a few words to say. 
 
 First : I wish to thank all those of this congregation who have 
 by word or deed shown me any kindness. I wish to thank all of 
 those who by their thoughtfulness have made any member of my 
 now diminished household happy. Those acts I will always bear 
 in kindly remembrance, while those who have extended them to 
 me and mine will always be remembered as my friends. May God 
 reward you for those good deeds a hundredfold. 
 
 Second: I wish to say that my experience as rector of the 
 church in connection with the choir, which has so important a part 
 in these services, has been not only most agreeable but somewhat 
 peculiar. You are accustomed to hear that discord often comes 
 into a church through the choir. It has never been so during my 
 twelve years' rectorship. Those who have been selected to sing 
 f
 
 82 History of Trinity Church 
 
 praises of Almighty God seem to have realized that they were 
 engaged in a solemn and pious duty. Harmony and peace always 
 prevailed, and I have found not only comfort, but joy in knowing 
 that out of clean hearts and right minds this beautiful portion of our 
 service was being rendered. I wish to thank the members of the 
 choir, and especially him who has been connected with the choir 
 as leader during my entire rectorship [Charles F. Hager], to whose 
 amiability and earnestness I am largely indebted. 
 
 Third : 1 wish to thank most heartily those ladies of the con- 
 gregation who have been members of the Parish Aid Society, and 
 have helped me in my work among the poor. Most faithfully have 
 they labored, and through their diligence and kindness I have 
 been able to make many a poor home comfortable, to clothe many 
 children, and to increase the joys of many a poor mother. You, 
 ladies, have always been ready to follow my guidance in the distri- 
 bution of your alms, and through you Trinity Church has a loving 
 name and a sweet fragrance in the homes of the poor. Thus you 
 have strengthened and encouraged your pastor. Through your 
 missionary organization you have sent supplies to distant homes 
 of those who are laboring in the poor parishes of our church, and 
 have made glad many households of faithful servants of the Lord, 
 otherwise but scantily provided for. The hours passed with you 
 while at work will always be fresh in my memory ; and may God 
 make the recollection of them to you as to me. 
 
 Asking the divine blessing on you all, I have spoken my last 
 word. 
 
 In his many notable sermons, in his public addresses 
 connected with various questions of the day, in his inter- 
 course with his brethren of the clergy, Doctor Van Bok- 
 kelen always won golden opinions. Liberal in his views, 
 generous in his impulses, in sympathy with all efforts to 
 improve and benefit humanity, he laid down his work 
 with honor to himself and the respect of the whole 
 community.
 
 Old Trinity
 
 An Easter Day Service 
 
 March 28, 1880 
 
 WE give below a small portion of a very elabo- 
 rate description of the church decorations on 
 this occasion, taken from the Buffalo Courier 
 of March 29, 1880. The principal event of the day was 
 the dedication of the ewer and font cover, on which are 
 inscribed the names of sixty children who had been bap- 
 tized by Doctor Van Bokkelen. The grown-up children 
 may be pleased to see their names so early associated 
 with works of devotion and charity. The rosebuds 
 which were presented to the congregation were from the 
 greenhouse of the late John A. Mixer of Forestville, 
 Chautauqua County, whose heart and hand were ever 
 open to cheer and bless. 
 
 The floral decorations at old Trinity were of the most elaborate 
 character, and during its long and eventful existence this ancient 
 edifice never looked lovelier. In fact, the display of rare flowers, 
 and the exquisite blending of buds and blossoms, together with 
 smilax, ivy, and evergreens, quite surpassed all previous efforts. 
 
 Immediately on entering the church the worshiper was sur- 
 prised to find that the decorations began in the vestibule. At the 
 base of the stairs leading to the gallery, on either side, two huge 
 banks of potted plants were arranged in a graceful manner. These 
 banks of plants formed an appropriate background for the eight 
 little girls, four on either side, who stood at white cloth-covered 
 tables, and presented to every person who entered the church a 
 little boutonniere composed of a rosebud, a carnation, and a piece 
 of evergreen. The rosebud is symbolical of the resurrection, and 
 
 83
 
 84 History of Trinity Church 
 
 the evergreen is a symbol of immortality. This is a custom of the 
 Greek Church on Easter Day festivals, and is the first occasion on 
 which the custom has been introduced in the city. It was prettily 
 done, and when the church was filled by the congregation, each 
 one wearing a symbol on his breast, the sight was an interesting 
 one. 
 
 The congregation was very large, every seat being occupied, 
 while many, being unable to obtain accommodation, were obliged 
 to seek other houses of worship. The entire service was conducted 
 by the rector, Reverend L. Van Bokkelen, D. D., who preached a 
 sermon and subsequently administered the holy communion to a 
 great number of communicants. 
 
 As has been the custom for several years, the ten windows 
 were transformed into objects of great beauty by being filled with 
 flowering plants and curtained with smilax and ivy. The chande- 
 liers, pillars of the chancel, front of the organ gallery, and, in fact, 
 every available point in the church, were bright with color, and the 
 altar was a bank of flowers. Numerous memorial pieces lent their 
 beauty and sacredness to the scene. 
 
 The solid oaken cover to the font, together with the polished 
 brass baptismal ewer and baptismal bowl of silver, were presented 
 to the church yesterday morning by sixty children of the parish who 
 have been baptized by the present rector. The silver baptismal 
 bowl within the font was a memorial of Louise White, and was ap- 
 propriately engraved. During the morning service these articles of 
 ecclesiastical furniture were formally presented to the congregation 
 by the rector as the gift of the lambs of the flock, with an expres- 
 sion of the hope that they would not only equal, but surpass the 
 zeal of their parents in their efforts to make Trinity Parish not only 
 useful to its own members, but to every one who finds a home in 
 the city of Buffalo. An appropriate prayer of dedication of the 
 gift was offered, and a prayer for the children of the church was also 
 given. On the brass mountings of the oaken cover the names of 
 the sixty little people were handsomely engraved and are as fol- 
 lows : Emily Seymour Coit, Julia Townsend Coit, Charles Town- 
 send Coit, Edward Movius Sicard, Josephine Hunt Sicard, James 
 Cleveland Fowler, Henry Silas Fowler, Amelia Blanchard Huff, 
 James Whitford Huff, Arnold Beach Watson, Charlotte Miriam 
 Kip, Frances Anne Kip, Elizabeth Wilkes Wilkeson, Kate Wilke- 
 son, Evelyn Rumsey, Julia Cary, Sarah Cary, Florence Louise De
 
 An Easter Day Service 85 
 
 Laney, Frances Duren De Laney, Sherman Jewett Williams, Marie 
 Louisa Howard, Marion Spaulding, Louise Holbrook Foster, 
 Charlotte Blossom, Robert Pliny Hayes, Francis John Tyler, Mil- 
 dred Martha Gratwick, Edna Granger, Clark Potter Read, John 
 Henry Vought, Gibson Tenny Williams, Margaret Turner Williams, 
 Lombard Williams, Martha Tenny Williams, Lilian Fairchild, 
 Frank Currier Perew, Alice Sophia Perew, Robert Jackman Perew, 
 Grace Albertine Perew, Manson Loring Fiske, Harold Spaulding 
 Sidway, Clarence Spaulding Sidway, Frank St. John Sidway, Edith 
 Sidway, Clarence Alexis Evstaphieve, Harrison Williams, Mary 
 Stedman Williams, Gordon Williams, Lauren Woodruff Winslow, 
 Caroline Grandy Winslow, Seymour Penfield White, Louise White, 
 James Piatt White, Mary Louise Winslow, Henry Clark Winslow, 
 Gertrude Laverack, Howard Cowing Laverack, William Harold 
 Laverack, Stephen Dutton Clarke, Charles Dutton Clarke, Rodney 
 Dennis Hall, Hattie Gertrude Mason, Ernest Miner Fowler. 
 
 The music was the best ever given at an Easter festival at 
 Trinity Church, each member of the quartet and choir sustaining 
 their parts in admirable style. It was solid church music, enthusi- 
 astically rendered without any attempt to exhibit the talent of any- 
 solo performer. 
 
 The choral service took place at half past three o'clock, and 
 was largely attended. The Sunday school entered the church in 
 procession, each class carrying its own banner and singing, "On- 
 ward, Christian Soldiers." The regular service then proceeded, 
 and consisted of Easter carols by the Sunday school and choir. 
 The children of the Sunday school are all counted members of the 
 choir, and are regularly trained to sing the musical parts of the ser- 
 vice by members of the congregation who wish to bring about the 
 custom of congregational singing. 
 
 During the service an offering was made for the fund to endow 
 a cot for a sick child in the General Hospital. Doctor Van Bokke- 
 len explained the purpose of the endowment and said that the 
 children had already raised seven hundred dollars, which is now 
 drawing interest. It is hoped that the fund can be increased to 
 two thousand dollars, which upon interest will be sufficient to pro- 
 vide for the requirements of the cot. The cot is intended to be 
 used for any child not afflicted with chronic and incurable disease, 
 and is for the treatment of indigent sick children. The prospects 
 are indeed favorable that the plan will succeed.
 
 'Tis raised in beauty from the dust, 
 
 And 'tis a goodly pile ! 
 So takes our infant church, I trust, 
 
 Her own true stamp and style. 
 As birds put forth their own attire, 
 
 As shells o'er sea-nymphs grow, 
 'Tis ours — nave, chancel, aisle, and spire, 
 
 And not a borrowed show. 
 
 EISHOP COXE.
 
 Francis Lobdcll
 
 Reverend Francis Lobdell 
 
 1887 
 
 WITH the settlement of Trinity congregation in 
 its new edifice, and the acceptance of its rec- 
 torship by Doctor Francis Lobdell, a new era 
 of prosperity dawned upon the parish. The women of 
 the parish had worked nobly to provide means for fur- 
 nishing the church; the location made it central for the 
 majority of its members; and the relations between the 
 two consolidated parishes made the union advantageous 
 to both. 
 
 Four years later, on the death of Mrs. James McCredie, 
 it was found that she had bequeathed her beautiful resi- 
 dence on Delaware Avenue, within a few doors of Trinity 
 Church, to her beloved parish. Thus through her de- 
 voted love and generosity Trinity Parish owns a hand- 
 some rectory; and our dear rector and his interesting 
 family have a permanent home among us, in one of the 
 most convenient and desirable quarters of the city. 
 
 The tenth anniversary of Doctor Lobdell's rectorate 
 occurred recently, and we have obtained his permission 
 to add to our records the sermon he preached on that 
 occasion, realizing that it would be the best and most 
 complete history that could be given of the church's pro- 
 gress in the last ten years, for the prosperity of which we 
 have great cause for thankfulness. 
 
 87
 
 88 History of Trinity Church 
 
 Tenth Anniversary Sermon * 
 
 They dwelled there about ten years. — Ruth i: 4. 
 
 Ten years: the tenth of a century: one sixth of the 
 years of the history of this parish! Ten circuits of the 
 Church's order from Advent to Advent! Each of us ten 
 years older, and ten years nearer our eternal home! In- 
 fants whom I baptized are almost ready for confirmation. 
 Children have grown up to manhood and womanhood, 
 and the effects of age are seen in those who ten years 
 ago were in the prime of life. Change has come over us 
 all. What has it wrought in us? 
 
 Early in January, 1887, Bishop Coxe wrote to me ask- 
 ing if I would accept the rectorship of this parish. He 
 said he was to be in New York within a week, and re- 
 quested me to meet him at his hotel to confer on the 
 subject. I met him according to appointment and he 
 told me all about the parish, its needs, its embarrass- 
 ments, and its prospects — and urged me to give the sub- 
 ject earnest and prayerful consideration. He expressed 
 a strong personal desire to have me near him, kindly 
 telling me that over and above any influence I might 
 have in the parish, he wanted me to help him bear the 
 burdens which, on account of advancing age, were be- 
 coming oppressive. 
 
 I may be permitted here to say that this was the atti- 
 tude of the Bishop towards me to the day of his death. 
 Our relations were most cordial and affectionate. He 
 
 *The rector has yielded to the request of members of the vestry and congre- 
 gation that this historical sketch be printed as it was delivered, without the elimi- 
 nation of personal allusions which will not interest those who are not connected 
 with the parish. — F. L.
 
 Reverend Francis Lobdell 89 
 
 made me his confidential friend. It was only to please 
 him, and to be of some help to him, that I accepted the 
 office of archdeacon which he conferred upon me. This 
 was his parish church; and when the active duties of his 
 busy life did not call him elsewhere, he was with us in 
 the congregation or in the chancel. For many years it 
 was his custom to give us a series of lectures during 
 Lent, and we cannot realize that we have listened to his 
 words of wisdom and instruction for the last time. Bishop 
 Coxe was one of the most illustrious men in the Ameri- 
 can Church. As a scholar he had few superiors. His 
 poetic gift, his polished courtesy and perfect rhetoric, his 
 zealous and intelligent defense of Catholic principles, his 
 personal grace and commanding presence, made up a 
 grand personality, which will leave its impression on all 
 who knew him. 
 
 In my interview with the Bishop in New York, I told 
 him I could give no definite reply to his proposition, nor 
 could I have any communication with the vestry, until I 
 had visited Buffalo and had made myself familiar with 
 the condition of the parish. He kindly invited me to 
 come here as his guest as soon as possible. I left New 
 York for this city on the sixteenth of January, 1887, and 
 was with the Bishop three days, when he gave up his en- 
 tire time to the object which had brought me to the See 
 House. 
 
 I shall never forget my first visit to the church with 
 the Bishop. It was not its beauty and attractiveness that 
 impressed me. It was the Bishop himself. We entered 
 yonder door and walked down the aisle directly to the 
 altar, where the good Bishop said, " Before we look at 
 the church, or say anything more about your coming
 
 90 History of Trinity Church 
 
 here, let us kneel down before the altar and ask God's 
 direction and blessing." We knelt down; and the Bishop, 
 taking my hand in his, offered one of the most tender, 
 simple, and trustful prayers I ever heard. We both felt 
 that, whatever the decision might be, we should be di- 
 vinely guided; and I believe we were. 
 
 I had met several members of the congregation, but 
 I desired to get some information concerning the parish, 
 its standing in the community, its field of usefulness, and 
 its general outlook from persons who were not connected 
 with it. The only man in Buffalo, except the Bishop, 
 with whom I was acquainted was an elder in a Presby- 
 terian church. To him, therefore, I went, and requested 
 him to tell me the very worst things he knew about 
 Trinity Church. This, very much condensed, was his 
 reply: "There are many excellent, devoted, Christian 
 people connected with the parish, but it has a debt of 
 about $50,000, and they will never pay it. They prefer 
 to pay the interest, and keep the principal in their 
 pockets." 
 
 On the evening of the eighteenth of January I con- 
 sented to meet the vestry, who told me, as explicitly as 
 they could tell a stranger, the exact condition of the 
 parish. They did not mean to keep anything back, and 
 yet the brighter side was so bright that it made the darker 
 side somewhat obscure. They told me that the parish 
 had a debt of nearly $50,000, but that they were able to 
 pay it, and would pay it as soon as possible. That prom- 
 ise, from such men, was all I needed. I trusted them, and 
 they trusted me. 
 
 The two wardens of that vestry were R. L. Howard 
 and Thomas Dennis. The vestrymen were Nathaniel
 
 Reverend Francis Lobdell 91 
 
 Rochester, Charles H. Utley, William Laverack, Doctor 
 M. B. Folwell, Peter C. Doyle, William H. Gratwick, 
 Hobart B. Loomis, and Ensign Bennett. Of these ten 
 only four are now living. On the death of Mr. Dennis, 
 David P. Dobbins was elected to succeed him, and he 
 too, has been called to his reward. I have buried seven 
 members of the vestry in the last ten years.* 
 
 The result of the conference with the vestry was my 
 acceptance of the rectorship of the parish ; but as Lent 
 was approaching, I felt that I could not leave my con- 
 gregation in New York before Easter: but I never made 
 a more unfortunate mistake; the intervening ten weeks 
 were weeks of purgatory to rector and people, the pain 
 of the separation being so prolonged. In the meantime 
 I visited this parish and officiated on two Sundays, and 
 was welcomed on a Saturday evening at a most delight- 
 ful reception given by one of our neighboring parish- 
 ioners. 
 
 On Thursday, the fourteenth of April, I removed to 
 Buffalo. On the seventeenth, the Sunday after Easter, 
 I regularly entered upon my duties as rector; and the 
 vested choir sang for the first time on that day. 
 
 I wish I could speak of these things without any 
 reference to myself, but as my life for the last ten years 
 has been a part of the history of the parish, it is impos- 
 sible to refer to it without alluding to my connection 
 with it ; and I am sure you will pardon what is meant to 
 be as far as possible from egotism. 
 
 The confidence which the vestry and the congrega- 
 tion have manifested towards the rector during these ten 
 
 * Since the above was written, another member of the vestry, Mr. Edmond W. 
 Granger, has been removed by death.
 
 92 History of Trinity Church 
 
 years was exhibited by the senior warden the first time I 
 officiated here. When he came to the vestry room 
 before the service to greet me, I said to him, " I am 
 entirely unfamiliar with the way the service has been 
 conducted here, and would like to know what you are 
 accustomed to." His reply was, " Conduct the service 
 in your own way, and it will meet with our hearty ap- 
 probation." From that day to this the same spirit has 
 been exhibited, and it has made me all the more careful 
 about the introduction of changes in the service. I 
 decided that no change whatever should be made for an 
 entire year. 
 
 Before I came here one of the vestrymen wrote me 
 that he had ordered a processional cross to be made in 
 New York. If I did not approve of it he desired me to 
 countermand the order, which I did, not because I dis- 
 approved of a processional cross, which I very much 
 wanted, but because you were not accustomed to it, and 
 I was unwilling that it should be introduced until you 
 had become well enough acquainted with me to trust my 
 judgment. So careful was I about any innovation that, 
 learning that a new litany desk had been presented as a 
 memorial gift, I requested the Bishop, who officiated on 
 Easter Day, contrary to the usual custom on that day, 
 to say the Litany at the new desk, in order that I might 
 find it in actual use on my arrival. Those of you who 
 were present will remember that the Bishop asked you 
 to remain after the celebration of the holy communion 
 and join him in saying the litany; but probably none 
 of you have ever known why he did it. 
 
 On the nineteenth of May, 1888, one of the most 
 interesting and attractive and efficient young choristers
 
 Revere7id Francis Lobdell 93 
 
 was removed by death, and his parents requested the 
 privilege of presenting a processional cross as a memorial 
 of him. I felt that the time had come when such a gift 
 could be accepted; and ever since, whenever the choir 
 has entered the church it has been " with the cross of 
 Jesus going on before." 
 
 This, so far as I can remember, is the only innovation 
 I have made. Everything else is as I found it ten years 
 ago. If there have been slight modifications in the 
 order of worship, they have come so naturally that it 
 seems as if there had been no change. I have aimed to 
 take what we have and use it in a reverent and devout 
 way. Anything that savors of irreverence in the house 
 of God or the order of worship I abhor. There is no 
 danger of being too reverent. The danger is all in the 
 other direction, making the house of God merely a 
 " meeting house." 
 
 The condition in which I found the parish was not 
 very encouraging. Besides the debt, which was large 
 and burdensome, there were various difficulties to be 
 overcome. The parishes of Trinity and Christ Church 
 had been consolidated, but there were evidences of 
 friction between the members of the two former organi- 
 zations. One of the members of Christ Church (in 
 language which you will pardon, for it expressed exactly 
 what he meant) said that they " had been swallowed by 
 Trinity and had not been digested." You had been a 
 whole year without a rector, my predecessor having 
 retired after the opening service in the new church on 
 Easter Day, 1886. In consequence of the vacant rector- 
 ship, the not too cordial relationship of the consolidated 
 parishes, and the burdensome debt, the congregation
 
 94 History of Trinity Church 
 
 had scattered, and altogether the tide was at a very low 
 ebb. 
 
 I found here only two hundred and thirty communi- 
 cants. Forty-eight pews were unrented, and the income 
 from those which were rented was only nine thousand 
 six hundred dollars. Floating debts had accumulated, 
 and the history of the parish for fifty years was being 
 repeated, — borrowing money to pay current expenses. 
 In March, 1888, a special effort was made to extinguish 
 a part of the floating debt, and about four thousand dol- 
 lars was raised for this purpose. 
 
 There were three organizations of women which were 
 doing efficient work — the Trinity Cooperative Relief So- 
 ciety, the Church Furnishing Society, and the Ladies' Aid 
 Society. The first of these limited its work to the poor 
 on the East Side; the second devoted its energies to fur- 
 nishing the new church, and actually raised six thousand 
 dollars for this object. They were an enthusiastic band 
 of energetic women, and the parish is greatly indebted to 
 them for what they were able to accomplish. The third 
 was devoted to benevolent work in the city, and also did 
 some missionary work. 
 
 When the object for which the Furnishing Society 
 was organized was accomplished, the organization was 
 given up. The Ladies' Aid Society was merged in a 
 new Missionary Guild in connection with the Woman's 
 Auxiliary; other guilds for young women and children 
 were organized for the same object, and all of these 
 have been doing excellent work. Comparatively few 
 women of the parish are active members of the Mission- 
 ary Guild. A few do all the work, for which the parish 
 is responsible. To help the missionaries whom the
 
 Reverend Francis Lobdcll 95 
 
 Church sends into the field in obedience to our Saviour's 
 last command, does not seem to commend itself to the 
 sympathy and hearty cooperation of many of our people. 
 I do not speak of this as if this parish were exceptional 
 in its conception of its responsibility for the support of 
 missionaries, for it is not. Our branch of the Woman's 
 Auxiliary stands the highest in the diocese; but still we 
 are not doing all we ought to do. 
 
 Within the last year the Cooperative Relief Society 
 has greatly enlarged its operations by taking under its 
 supervision a district on the East Side, where Trinity 
 House has been established and a most important work 
 among the poor is being successfully done. There is a 
 mother's class which meets every Wednesday, and is 
 attended by all the women the house will accommodate. 
 They are credited with ten cents an hour for their sew- 
 ing, and take their pay in garments made, or in material 
 for garments. On Tuesdays a committee of women 
 from the parish meets and cuts out the work for the 
 following day. Cake and coffee are served to the women 
 when their work is done. The refining and elevating 
 influence upon these women is already very apparent. 
 
 There is also at Trinity House a boys' club, a club 
 for young men, and a girls' club which has outgrown the 
 capacity of the building. There is also a diet kitchen 
 where delicacies for the sick are prepared, and women 
 are instructed in cooking. 
 
 And last of all — and I would say the best if all the 
 departments were not the best — is a kindergarten, where 
 forty children are taught five days every week by most 
 efficient and thoroughly trained teachers. The people of 
 the parish are very much interested in this work at
 
 96 History of Trinity Church 
 
 Trinity House, and have contributed for its support dur- 
 ing the last year $2,659.63. 
 
 An industrial school of from sixty to eighty children 
 meets in the parish guild house every Saturday morning, 
 and the children are systematically taught the art of 
 sewing. The superintendent and her faithful corps of 
 teachers are doing a self-sacrificing and praiseworthy 
 work. The Altar Society, with its various chapters, has 
 been most useful, and the Vestment Society has provided 
 all the vestments which are used by the clergy and the 
 choir. 
 
 During the first four years of my rectorship I had no 
 clerical assistance. The vestry, realizing that the growing 
 work demanded more labor than one man was able to 
 give it, offered to provide a salary for an assistant, and 
 Captain Dobbins secured by subscription all the money 
 necessary for this object in a very few days. But the sub- 
 scribers were never called upon for the amount of their 
 subscriptions, other and better things being provided a 
 little later. 
 
 The condition of the parish was every year improv- 
 ing. The number of communicants had more than 
 doubled, and the financial resources were very much 
 increased. Still we were paying two thousand dollars a 
 year in interest on our mortgage debt. If we could only 
 be relieved from that heavy burden, the parish would 
 rebound from all pecuniary embarrassment, and have two 
 thousand dollars more to use for its legitimate work. 
 This was discussed very earnestly at our vestry meetings, 
 and finally it was determined to make an effort to raise 
 the entire amount of the debt if possible, but in any 
 event to raise all we could. I doubt if any member of
 
 Reverend Francis Lobdcll 97 
 
 the vestry really believed it would be possible to obtain 
 subscriptions for the entire debt. We each pledged our- 
 selves to do everything within our power for the accom- 
 plishment of this object. Committees of the vestry and 
 congregation were appointed to solicit subscriptions, and 
 I was to preach a sermon on the subject to awaken the 
 interest and enlist the cooperation of the congregation. 
 Not a movement was to be made until the sermon had 
 been preached. The sermon was prepared, but the next 
 Sunday was stormy and the congregation was not large. 
 So I did not preach the sermon that day. The next Sun- 
 day was more unfavorable than the last. But the third 
 Sunday was all we could wish for, and the congregation 
 filled the church. The sermon, which I had taken into 
 the pulpit three times, was then delivered, and before 
 the congregation had all left the church that morning 
 ten thousand dollars was subscribed. The committee 
 immediately began their work with enthusiastic earnest- 
 ness, and within ten days, on my return from New York, 
 they met me in my study with a thousand dollars more 
 than the entire amount of the debt subscribed; and so 
 my friend the Presbyterian elder had proved himself to 
 be a false prophet. 
 
 Oh, what a relief it was to pastor and people to feel 
 that this heavy burden had been removed! The sub- 
 scriptions were payable in one, two, three, four, and five 
 years. But almost the entire amount was paid within 
 two years, and on the twentieth day of September, 1892, 
 the mortgage having been removed, this church was 
 solemnly consecrated by Bishop Coxe to Almighty God, 
 to be used henceforth only for His worship and service, 
 according to the liturgy of the Protestant Episcopal 
 g
 
 98 History of Trinity Church 
 
 Church, and according to the usages prescribed in the 
 Book of Common Prayer. 
 
 For the first time in all its history the parish was 
 entirely free from debt, and we were able to enlarge the 
 scope of our work. 
 
 On the 29th of January, 1891, Mrs. Caroline M. Mc- 
 Credie, a communicant of this parish for more than fifty 
 years, was removed by death; and when her will was 
 read, to our complete surprise it was found that she had 
 bequeathed nearly half of her estate to this parish. She 
 had never said anything to me on the subject, though I 
 had frequently visited her during her illness, as well as in 
 the regular course of visitations while she was in health. 
 
 In due time the parish received from her estate her 
 former residence, which is now the rectory, and thirty 
 thousand dollars in valuable investments which the vestry 
 has regarded as an endowment fund, to be increased 
 from year to year, for use when the income of the parish 
 in years to come shall be reduced by changes which, in 
 such a rapidly growing city as this, are inevitable. 
 
 The vestry has contracted with The Tiffany Company, 
 of New York, for a beautiful window, which will soon be 
 placed in the church as a memorial of Mr. and Mrs. Mc- 
 Credie.* The windows which now beautify the church, 
 with the exception of those in the chancel and one in 
 the nave, have all been placed here since April, 1887. 
 There are in the church sixty-one memorials of the dead, 
 forty of which have been given during the last ten years. 
 
 For several years it had been evident that the organ, 
 which was built for the old church, and which had been 
 
 ♦This window, representing the archangels Gabriel and Raphael, was placed 
 in the church on September ist, 1897.
 
 Reverend Francis Lobdell 99 
 
 in use for more than twenty years, was not adapted for 
 the use to which it was put in this building. Its capacity 
 was insufficient, and its mechanism defective. The vestry 
 felt that the time had come when it was possible to pro- 
 vide a better instrument. Accordingly last spring a 
 movement was made in this direction, and in two or 
 three weeks the entire amount required was raised, and 
 the organ was paid for as soon as it was completed. 
 
 There are many other items of interest to which I 
 would be glad to allude, but I have already detained you 
 too long. I have now only time to present a summary 
 of the statistics of the parish for the last ten years. 
 
 There were in April, 1887, two hundred and thirty 
 communicants. There have since been added by transfer 
 and confirmation nine hundred and one. We have lost 
 by death seventy-eight, and by transfer one hundred and 
 ninety-nine. The present number is therefore eight hun- 
 dred and fifty-four. Four hundred and ten persons have 
 been confirmed. I have baptized two hundred and ninety ; 
 have officiated at one hundred and twenty marriages and 
 at two hundred and nine burials, and have made six thou- 
 sand and ninety-six parochial calls. 
 
 The total amount contributed by the parish during 
 the last ten years is $318,085.22. 
 
 And now, beloved, I have given an account of my 
 stewardship, but I take no credit to myself for what has 
 been accomplished. Without your hearty cooperation I 
 could have done nothing. You have sustained me in 
 every effort I have made. I have felt that back of me 
 was the entire force and cordial sympathy of the con- 
 gregation. There has been, thank God, no carping criti- 
 cism of my methods, and this is one of the secrets of our
 
 i oo History of Trinity Church 
 
 success. You chose me as your rector, and your rector 
 you have been willing that I should be. You have 
 trusted me because you knew me, and though in this 
 parish we are bound by no ironclad rule of absolute uni- 
 formity in matters unimportant, we have worked together 
 in perfect harmony, and we all see the great advantage 
 of this method of work. 
 
 I have been blessed with one of the best of vestries — 
 broad-minded, intelligent, enthusiastic men, aiding the 
 rector in every possible way, and making his heart glad 
 whenever a shadow of discouragement appeared. The 
 vestry has never been divided on any action it has taken. 
 I do not recall a single instance in which a vote was not 
 unanimous. There have been full and unrestricted dis- 
 cussions, but when a vote was taken it was unanimous. 
 
 God bless you all, and make me more worthy of your 
 sympathy and confidence. I came here to consecrate the 
 best years of my life to the service of God in this parish. 
 Pray for me, for I need your prayers. These ten years 
 have been years of joy and sorrow; years of affliction, 
 with their more than two hundred funerals; years of 
 pleasure, the pastor mingling with one hundred and 
 twenty bridal groups, going to the happy, going to the 
 distressed, going to the beds of pain and death, his heart 
 full of stored-up sympathies, trying to teach to all the 
 blessed gospel of our loving Saviour. The bond that 
 unites us is most sacred. 
 
 Let us be faithful to God, to each other, and to the 
 world around us, "with one mind striving together for 
 the faith of the gospel," until our work is done and we 
 hear the voice of our loving Father saying, " Come up 
 higher."
 
 William D. Walker
 
 Bishop Walker 
 
 IN October, 1896, a special council of the diocese of 
 Western New York convened in Trinity Church, 
 Buffalo, to fill the vacancy caused by the lamented 
 death of our beloved Bishop Coxe. The unanimous vote 
 of the council elected to this episcopate the Right Rev- 
 erend William D. Walker, D. D., LL. D., missionary 
 bishop of North Dakota, who accepted the call, much to 
 the joy of the diocese in general, laymen as well as 
 clergy. 
 
 Bishop Walker is a New Yorker by birth. He pre- 
 pared for college at Trinity School, New York, and grad- 
 uated from Columbia College in 1859. ^ e entered the 
 General Theological Seminary the same year, was or- 
 dained deacon by Bishop Potter in 1862, who also, a 
 year later, ordained him to the priesthood. His first 
 work in the ministry was in connection with Calvary 
 Church, New York, of which Bishop Coxe (then the 
 Reverend Doctor Coxe) was rector. Here he filled the 
 post of assistant, having special charge of the chapel 
 services, and this was his field of labor until called by 
 the House of Bishops to take the missionary episcopate 
 of North Dakota. He was consecrated December 20, 
 1883, by bishops Clark, Coxe, Clarkson, Littlejohn, 
 Benjamin H. Paddock, John A. Paddock, and Henry C. 
 Potter. 
 
 The missionary spirit, so greatly developed in Bishop 
 Walker, found a wide scope for work among the Indians
 
 102 History of Trinity Church 
 
 and the frontier settlements of North Dakota. Though 
 his jurisdiction was full of difficulties, he overcame the 
 obstacles in his path and won success. During his wise 
 administration great good was accomplished, and many 
 churches were built and consecrated. Bishop Walker's 
 devotion to the Indians within the limits of his see 
 resulted in the evangelization of numbers of the red men. 
 His ingenious expedient of the so-called " cathedral car," 
 for carrying the services of the church to the scattered 
 and isolated people of his charge, was remarkably suc- 
 cessful, and has been adopted in other countries. 
 
 Bishop Walker has won a high position for himself 
 in the regard of all churchmen, not only in this country 
 but in Great Britain as well. In accepting the call to 
 the diocese of Western New York, he did not come 
 among strangers, but was heartily welcomed by the 
 many friends who remembered his kind ministrations at 
 former times when Bishop Coxe was unable to make his 
 visitations, and who knew how highly he was esteemed 
 by our former beloved diocesan.
 
 Trinity Cooperative Relief Society 
 
 A CRY from the Charity Organization Society in 
 1879 for the cooperation of the churches in the 
 city in the work of visiting the poor and assist- 
 ing in the amelioration of their condition was responded 
 to by members of Trinity Parish, who organized March 
 27th, 1880, under the name of Trinity Cooperative 
 Relief Society. The first meeting of all interested was 
 called, and held at the residence of Doctor Walter Cary, 
 at the corner of Delaware Avenue and Huron Street; 
 and at a later meeting a draft of the constitution drawn 
 up by Mr. Thomas Cary and Mr. Samuel M. Welch, 
 junior, was presented and discussed, and, after being 
 greatly amended, was adopted. 
 
 The society was to lend a helping hand to all worthy 
 people of whatever creed, not giving alms, but rendering 
 such assistance as might enable those families committed 
 to its care by the Charity Organization Society to be- 
 come self-supporting. 
 
 The following officers were appointed: president, 
 Mr. William H. Gratwick; vice-president, Miss Maria 
 M. Love; secretary, Miss Emily S. Ganson; assistant 
 secretary, Miss Elizabeth C. Rochester; treasurer, Mr. 
 Horatio H. Seymour. A Purchasing Committee, Cut- 
 ting Committee, and Relief Committee were appointed, 
 and work was begun at once in the parlor of Trinity 
 Parish building on Mohawk Street, where every Wednes- 
 day morning from ten to twelve o'clock the ladies of the
 
 104 History of Trinity Church 
 
 society were in attendance, giving out work or paying — 
 in groceries, clothing, or cash, as the case might be — for 
 work done. 
 
 The work was scarcely entered upon when it became 
 apparent that the constitution must undergo radical 
 change, or nothing could be accomplished, the gentlemen 
 averring that every new move suggested was unconstitu- 
 tional. A committee composed of Mr. Thomas Cary and 
 Miss Ganson was appointed to revise and report upon the 
 constitution. They revised it so well, and guarded it so 
 carefully, that it has never since been heard from; and 
 from that day forward, Trinity Cooperative Relief Soci- 
 ety has worked out its mission with neither constitution 
 nor by-laws — and worked well! 
 
 As the society's work increased, three rooms were 
 taken on the second floor of the parish building; and at 
 the end of four years the society removed to the Fitch 
 Institute on Swan Street, where a suite of rooms was 
 offered for its use by the Charity Organization Society. 
 
 At this time the officers were: president, Samuel 
 M. Welch, junior; vice-president, Mrs. Henry M. Watson; 
 treasurer, Horatio H. Seymour; secretary, Miss Emily 
 S. Ganson; chairman of Relief Committee, Mrs. Henry 
 C. Winslow; secretary of Relief Committee, Miss Eliza- 
 beth C. Rochester. In the space of a little more than 
 four years, two hundred families had been cared for, and 
 only four out of that number had been found unworthy. 
 One hundred and seventy-five had become self-support- 
 ing, or had left the city, and in many cases had rendered 
 relief to others by dividing their work with them, thereby 
 becoming coworkers with the Relief Society, instead ot 
 beneficiaries. In the early days of this society it was
 
 Trinity Cooperative Relief Society 105 
 
 the custom to hold a general monthly meeting in the 
 evenings, at which time matters pertaining to the good 
 of the society in general were presented to the council 
 for conference; and suggestions were made by both men 
 and women as to the best methods to be pursued in the 
 management of cases. For example: one woman could 
 not use her needle and give sufficient support to her 
 family; scrubbing and cleaning met with equally fatal re- 
 sults, and the visitor was at a loss to know what to do. 
 A member of the society, a bachelor, who was away from 
 his home, and had homemade bread sent him every week, 
 suggested her making and selling homemade bread, and 
 gave an order for a loaf to be sent to him at his club 
 every day. This suggestion was followed by the visitor 
 herself teaching the woman to make bread and cake. 
 Within a year she was making and delivering one thou- 
 sand loaves a week, and in a very short time had all the 
 orders she could fill, and fully supported herself and 
 her family. This monthly general meeting was found of 
 great benefit, the advice and counsel of the men of the 
 congregation being invaluable. 
 
 A wretched case of squalor and misery, which for 
 many months baffled a series of inexperienced visitors, 
 and was about to be returned to the Charity Organiza- 
 tion Society marked "English paupers," was taken in 
 hand by one of the elder visitors. She was found to be 
 a little disheartened widow, whose husband's sudden 
 death by falling through an open hatchway had left her 
 with six little children, one a baby in arms. Living in 
 a basement, and with insufficient food, no wonder that 
 poverty of the blood was painfully manifested in all their 
 faces. The eldest boy was nine years old, and must be
 
 106 History of Trinity Church 
 
 clothed and sent to school. Work was found for the 
 mother in cleaning the offices of the street railroad com- 
 pany, and within a few months the whole aspect of the 
 family was changed. By fortunate chance the visitor 
 discovered certain papers relating to a life insurance, 
 which, followed up through the legal advice and kindly 
 efforts of Mr. Ansley Wilcox, finally brought a decision 
 from the court granting the little widow four thousand 
 dollars. This was safely invested for her in bonds and 
 mortgages by her attorney, and within five years of the 
 time she had been branded an English pauper she be- 
 came a landed proprietor, and had proved herself an in- 
 dustrious, capable woman, able to support herself and her 
 six children, with only a helping hand extended to her 
 and a kindly word of encouragement to make her feel 
 that she was not standing alone to bear the burden 
 which had so suddenly fallen upon her shoulders. 
 
 One other case only will be quoted, that of a woman 
 who came to one of the ladies during the summer 
 months, to say that neither she nor her three children 
 had had food for nearly twenty-four hours. Sewing was 
 given her, and later she was put under instruction and 
 became self-supporting as a manicure and chiropodist, 
 repaying to the society in full the money which had 
 been advanced to her for relief and instruction. 
 
 So for nearly seventeen years the work has been car- 
 ried on by this society, which, since its organization, has 
 given work to five hundred and forty-eight families. Dur- 
 ing this period, the following list of names appears as 
 officers and workers : 
 
 Presidents: William H. Gratwick, four years; Mrs. 
 Henry C. Winslow, ten years; Mrs. Henry C.Crane, one 
 year; Mrs. Wilson S. Bissell, one year.
 
 Trinity Cooperative Relief Society 107 
 
 Vice-presidents : Miss Maria M. Love, eleven years; 
 Mrs. Henry M. Watson, one year; Miss Emily Sibley 
 Ganson, one year; Miss Ida Haven, one year; Mrs. Seth 
 C. Clark, one year; Mrs. Peter A. Porter, one year. 
 
 Secretaries: Miss Emily Sibley Ganson, four years; 
 Miss Elizabeth C. Rochester (assistant), three years ; Mrs. 
 Bainbridge Folwell, two years; Miss Ida Haven, two 
 years; Mrs. Nathaniel Rochester, three years; Mrs. 
 Charles O. Howard, two years; Mrs. Parkhurst (corre- 
 spondence), one year; Mrs. John Parmenter, two years; 
 Mrs. John L. Williams, one year. 
 
 Treasurers: Mrs. Horatio H. Seymour, four years; 
 Mrs. Henry C. Springer, four years; Mrs. Seth C. Clark, 
 four years; Mrs. Jesse C. Dann, four years. 
 
 Visitors and workers: Mrs. Demarest, Mrs. Elizabeth 
 Cary, the Misses Rochester, Miss Morris, Miss Jeanie 
 Dann, Mrs. Henry Y. Grant, Mrs. A. A. Noye, Miss 
 Wheeler, Mrs. E. A. Bell, Mrs. F. E. Howard, Mrs. Wil- 
 liam Meadows, Miss Elizabeth Townsend, Mrs. William 
 H. Gratwick, Mrs. Gibson Howard, Mrs. E. S. Wheeler, 
 Mrs. George W. Miller, Mrs. H. M. Gerrans, Mrs. Sidney 
 Sweet, Mrs. Stedman Williams, Mrs. Mary E. Mixer, 
 Mrs. F. L. A. Cady, Miss Hauenstein, Mrs. John Druar, 
 Miss Sarah Hazard. 
 
 About three years ago, the writer, while in Boston, 
 was asked if she knew anything about a powerful society 
 in Buffalo known as the Trinity Cooperative Relief So- 
 ciety. A family had moved east, and had told how, 
 through the kindness and help received from this society, 
 they had been raised from penury to independence. 
 
 In 1896 it was found that many who had never before 
 asked for or received assistance disliked to apply to any
 
 108 History of Trinity Church 
 
 " relief" society, and considered it to be allied to the 
 poor master. Thereupon the word " Relief" was stricken 
 out from the society's name, and it became Trinity Co- 
 operative Society. 
 
 In November, 1895, the Buffalo districting plan was 
 suggested by a member of this society, and through the 
 Charity Organization Society the whole city was divided 
 into districts, each district to be taken by a church or a 
 society. The following letter is Miss Love's original 
 statement of the plan to the clergy of Buffalo. 
 
 November 16, 1895. 
 
 It has been well said, "If you could district the large cities, 
 and induce the churches to look after those districts as the poli- 
 ticians look after the voters in those districts, there would follow 
 such an uplifting of the masses as has not been known since the 
 coming of the Master! " 
 
 Following this suggestion a committee has been at work during 
 the summer, districting the city with a view to placing each district 
 in the care of a church. 
 
 When the question is asked, "What responsibility does a 
 church assume in accepting the care of a district from the hands of 
 the Districting Committee?" perhaps no better reply could be 
 voiced than that given in the New Testament to the question, 
 "Who is my neighbor?" Each district has certain attributes 
 more or less peculiar to itself, and the temperament of the church 
 must govern somewhat the treatment of the district. 
 
 In general, the highest development of the best that is in the 
 individual, and through the individual the uplifting of the com- 
 munity, is what is aimed at in this districting of the city. 
 
 A thorough knowledge of the dwellings and dwellers in a dis- 
 trict would, perforce, require a certain amount of friendly visit- 
 ing, of personal intercourse. This would lead to a knowledge of 
 the wants of that community, spiritually, morally, and physically, 
 and with a knowledge of the wants would be awakened a desire to 
 relieve them. Just how far this can be done will depend upon the 
 ability of those working in the church. When it is a matter of
 
 Trinity Cooperative Relief Society 109 
 
 material relief, beyond the financial capacity of the church to meet, 
 the Overseer of the Poor can be appealed to, though it is always 
 deemed desirable to inspire such a measure of self-respect as may 
 prevent as far as possible recourse to the Overseer of the Poor. In 
 certain districts the care of the children would possibly lead, with 
 the growth of the work, to the establishing of kindergartens, of 
 kitchen gardens, of sewing schools, of carpenter shops, and of 
 public playgrounds. Some knowledge of the ways of the men might 
 lead to the establishing of bright, attractive coffee houses, with 
 billiard tables, which would ultimately close the neighboring saloon. 
 
 Personal intercourse with the women would disclose their 
 ignorance of household economy, and lead to their availing them- 
 selves of the privileges offered by the Women's Union, in classes 
 of cooking, laundry work, and general housework, and lead, too, 
 to some effort to make the home clean, comfortable, and attractive. 
 
 But over all, and above all, is the spirit which animates this 
 service — " the cheerful and helpful doing of what the hand finds to 
 do, in surety that, at evening time, whatsoever is right the Master 
 will give." 
 
 As far as possible, it is desired that each church should confine 
 its relief work to its own district. Where it has interests in other 
 districts, however, the church of that other district should be noti- 
 fied that certain of its people are being cared for elsewhere, so that 
 the two churches should not both be relieving the same family. 
 
 Where any material relief is given, it is earnestly requested 
 that the name and address of the family receiving it be sent in to 
 the Charity Organization Society, that a full record may be kept at 
 its office. The officers and agents of the Charity Organization 
 Society will always be at the service of the churches. 
 
 In placing a district in the care of a congregation, perhaps no 
 better advice could be given than that of John Ruskin : "You know 
 how often it is difficult to be wisely charitable ; to do good, without 
 multiplying the sources of evil. You know that to give alms is 
 nothing unless you give thought also ; and that therefore it is written, 
 not, 'Blessed is he that feedeth the poor,' but 'Blessed is he that 
 considereth the poor.' And you know that a little thought and a 
 little kindness are often worth more than a great deal of money." 
 
 MARIA M. LOVE, 
 
 Chairman.
 
 1 1 o History of Trinity Church 
 
 At a meeting of the Trinity Cooperative Relief So- 
 ciety in March, 1 896, it was decided to assume the re- 
 sponsibility of a single district, following the plan sug- 
 gested by the Charity Organization Society; and district 
 number one hundred and thirty-five was taken, having 
 the following boundaries: Exchange Street to Buffalo 
 Creek; Michigan Street, to Louisiana Street, barring the 
 district east of Chicago Street and south of Fulton Street. 
 The following November a house was leased at 258 Elk 
 Street, in which Mrs. Bradnack was installed as resident. 
 
 With the opening of the year 1897, the work is given 
 out to the women as of old, on Wednesdays, but with a 
 difference. They meet at the house in the afternoons, 
 and sew for two hours and a half, receiving ten cents an 
 hour. This they may trade out in clothing or groceries 
 at greatly reduced rates. During the afternoon, the 
 women, in circles of eight and ten, adjourn to the dining 
 room, where they are served each with a cup of hot 
 coffee and a bun. This converts their stay into a very 
 enjoyable "afternoon tea." The ladies of the society 
 preside over each circle of sewers, and a most desirable 
 and beneficial relation is established between the women 
 of the society and the women of the district. The chil- 
 dren who are too young to be left at home alone are 
 brought by their mothers to the " Housekeepers' Club," 
 as it is now termed, and are taken care of and amused 
 by certain members of the society in attendance for that 
 purpose. 
 
 A library and reading room have been inaugurated, 
 and it is proposed to establish men's clubs, boys' clubs, 
 and girls' clubs, and to broaden the work as rapidly as 
 workers are found ready to lead.
 
 Trinity Cooperative Relief Society 1 1 1 
 
 A kindergarten will be opened January 4th, which 
 has its full complement of children, forty in number, 
 already enrolled, under two competent kindergartners, 
 Miss Kate Belton and Miss Edith Worthington. It is 
 to maintain this kindergarten that the proceeds from the 
 sale of this history will be applied. It is believed that 
 the dissemination of the kindergarten spirit to the moth- 
 ers through their children, and in the mothers' meetings 
 conducted by the kindergartners, will do more towards 
 the uplifting of the district than any other work entered 
 upon by the society. 
 
 The following is the list of officers and committees, 
 January 1st, 1897, of Trinity Cooperative Society: 
 
 President, Mrs. William Meadows; vice-president, 
 Miss Maria M. Love; secretary, Mrs. John Druar; treas- 
 urer, Mrs. Edgar B. Jewett. 
 
 House Committee: Mrs. Thomas Symons, chairman; 
 Mr. and Mrs. Henry M. Watson, Mr. and Mrs. Park- 
 hurst, Mrs. George L.Williams, Major Symons, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Wilson S. Bissell, Mr. Charles O. Howard. 
 
 Finance Committee: Mrs. Nathaniel Rochester, 
 chairman; Mr. and Mrs. T. Guilford Smith, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Charles O. Howard, Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Fryer, Mr. 
 and Mrs. George Bleistein, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Clifton, 
 Mr. and Mrs. Edmund W. Granger, Mr. and Mrs. George 
 S. Field, Mr. and Mrs. George W. Miller, Mr. and Mrs. 
 George L. Williams. 
 
 Kindergarten Committee: Miss Maria M. Love, 
 chairman; Mrs. H. W. Gerrans, Mrs. Martin Clark, Mrs. 
 E. S. Wheeler, Miss Hauenstein, Mrs. L. O. Allen, Mrs. 
 Abbott, Mrs. Demarest, Miss Doyle, Mr. and Mrs. Fol- 
 insbee, Dr. and Mrs. Breuer, Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Sweet.
 
 1 1 2 History of Trinity Church 
 
 Cooking Class Committee: Mrs. Redfern, chairman. 
 
 Reading Room and Library Committee: Mrs. Dexter 
 P. Rumsey, chairman; Mr. and Mrs. Charles Clifton, 
 Mr. and Mrs. L. D. Rumsey, Mr. and Mrs. George L. 
 Laverack, Mr. and Mrs. C. H. Keep, Mr. and Mrs. George 
 J. Sicard, Mr. and Mrs. Porter Norton, Mr. and Mrs. Wil- 
 liam H. Gratwick, Mrs. James P. White, Mrs. Movius, 
 Mrs. Mary E. Mixer, Dr. and Mrs. Roswell Park, Miss 
 Marion Spaulding, Miss Helen Winslow, Miss Fanny 
 Winslow, Miss Sarah Hazard, Miss Jennie Williams, 
 Mr. Seymour White, Mr. Frederick Mixer, Mr. James 
 Dyett. 
 
 Cutting Committee: Mrs. Edmund W. Granger, 
 chairman; Mrs. S. A. Wheeler, Mrs. Rachel Weaver, 
 Mrs. F. L. A. Cady, Mrs. M. Buell, Miss Elizabeth 
 Townsend, Mrs. Elizabeth Cary, Mrs. Charles Hengerer. 
 
 Worn Clothing Committee: Mrs. Benjamin Folsom, 
 chairman; Mrs. Codman. 
 
 New Garments Committee: Miss Elsie Wheeler, 
 chairman; Mrs. A. A. Noye, Mrs. Henry Y. Grant, Miss 
 Jennie Williams. 
 
 Housekeepers' Club Committee: Mrs. S. S. Spaulding, 
 chairman; Mrs. Joseph Hunsicker, Mrs. Henry M. 
 Watson, Mrs. Charles O. Howard, Mrs. F. E. Howard, 
 Mrs. Folwell, Mrs. Crane, Mrs. R. Weaver, Miss Sarah 
 Hazard, Miss England. 
 
 Men's Club Committee: Mr. James Dyett, chairman. 
 
 Girls' Clubs Committee: Miss Marion Spaulding, 
 chairman ; Miss May Williams. 
 
 Boys' Clubs Committee: Miss Margaret F. Roches- 
 ter, chairman; Miss Anna Maude Hoxsie, Mr. J. F. 
 Druar, Mr. Laurence Williams.
 
 Trinity Cooperative Relief Society 1 1 3 
 
 Executive Committee: Mrs. William Meadows, chair- 
 man; Miss Maria M. Love, Mrs. John Druar, Mrs. Dex- 
 ter P. Rumsey, Mrs. Porter Norton, Mrs. Nathaniel 
 Rochester, Mrs. Edgar B. Jewett, Mrs. Ward, Mrs. 
 Thomas Symons, Mrs. S. S. Spaulding, Mrs. Demarest.
 
 And the bishop, and the deacon 
 
 And the presbyter are there, 
 In pure and stainless raiment, 
 
 At Eucharist and prayer ; 
 And the bells swing free and merry, 
 
 And a nation shouteth round, 
 For the Lord Himself hath triumphed, 
 
 And His voice is in the sound. 
 
 BISHOP COXE.
 
 Wardens and Vestrymen 
 
 SOME of the earlier records of the church having 
 been lost during the removal from old Trinity, 
 a list of the wardens and vestrymen comprising 
 the vestries from 1855 is all that can be given without 
 resorting to sources which would not be authentic. 
 
 1855 
 
 Wardens: John Radcliff, Henry Daw. 
 
 Vestrymen: Henry W. Rogers, Corneille R. Ganson, 
 Robert H. Maynard, Rollin Germain, Gibson T. Wil- 
 liams, Walter Cary, Jesse C. Dann, Henry L. Lansing. 
 
 1856 
 
 Wardens : Henry Daw, Henry W. Rogers. 
 
 Vestrymen : Jesse C. Dann, Corneille R. Ganson, Gib- 
 son T. Williams, Walter Cary, Henry L. Lansing, Alex- 
 ander A. Evstaphieve, Augustus C. Taylor, John Ganson. 
 
 1857 
 
 Wardens: Henry Daw, Henry W. Rogers. 
 
 Vestrymen : Gibson T. Williams, Corneille R. Ganson, 
 Jesse C. Dann, Henry L. Lansing, Walter Cary, John 
 Ganson, Alexander A. Evstaphieve, Augustus C. Taylor. 
 
 John M. Hutchinson was clerk of the vestry from 
 1855 to 1858. At this date the pews numbered up to 
 one hundred and eleven, and the valuation ran from two 
 hundred and fifty dollars to six hundred and fifty dollars. 
 
 115
 
 1 1 6 History of Trinity Church 
 
 1858 
 
 Wardens: Henry Daw, Henry W. Rogers. 
 
 Vestrymen: Gibson T. Williams, Alexander A. Ev- 
 staphieve, Jesse C. Dann, James M. Smith, Robert Hol- 
 lister, George W. Clinton, John M. Hutchinson, James 
 
 C. Harrison. 
 
 1859 
 
 Wardens: Henry Daw, Henry W. Rogers. 
 
 Vestrymen: Alexander A. Evstaphieve, James M. 
 Smith, Robert Hollister, James C. Harrison, George W. 
 Clinton, Henry Martin, Stephen V. R. Watson, Samuel 
 K. Worthington. 
 
 i860 
 
 Wardens: Henry Daw, Henry W. Rogers. 
 
 Vestrymen: James M. Smith, Robert Hollister, Alex- 
 ander A. Evstaphieve, Stephen V. R. Watson, Henry 
 Martin, Samuel K. Worthington, James C. Harrison, 
 
 Rufus L. Howard. 
 
 1861 
 
 Wardens: Henry Daw, Henry W. Rogers. 
 
 Vestrymen: James M. Smith, Robert Hollister, 
 Stephen V. R. Watson, Henry Martin, Samuel K. Wor- 
 thington, James C. Harrison, Rufus L. Howard. 
 
 In 1 86 1, the Reverend O. F. Starkey was appointed 
 assistant rector during the absence of Doctor Ingersoll. 
 He was much beloved by the congregation. 
 
 1862 
 
 Wardens: Henry Daw, Henry W. Rogers. 
 
 Vestrymen: James M. Smith, Robert Hollister, 
 Stephen V. R. Watson, Henry Martin, Samuel K. Wor- 
 thington, James C. Harrison, Rufus L. Howard.
 
 Wardens and Vestrymen 1 1 7 
 
 1863 
 
 Wardens : Henry Daw, Henry W. Rogers. 
 
 Vestrymen: Rufus L. Howard, Stephen V. R.Watson, 
 Samuel K. Worthington, Benjamin F. Smith, James Mc- 
 Credie, David P. Dobbins, Rufus C. Palmer, Augustus C. 
 Taylor. 
 
 1864 
 
 Wardens: Henry Daw, Henry W. Rogers. 
 
 Vestrymen: Rufus L. Howard, Stephen V. R.Watson, 
 Samuel K. Worthington, Benjamin F. Smith, James Mc- 
 Credie, David P. Dobbins, Rufus C. Palmer, Augustus C. 
 Taylor. 
 
 1865 
 
 Wardens: Henry W. Rogers, Robert Hollister. 
 
 Vestrymen: Rufus L. Howard, Stephen V. R.Watson, 
 Samuel K. Worthington, Benjamin F. Smith, James Mc- 
 Credie, David P. Dobbins, Rufus C. Palmer, Augustus C. 
 Taylor, John Cook. 
 
 1866 
 
 Wardens: Henry W. Rogers, Robert Hollister. 
 
 Vestrymen: Rufus L. Howard, Samuel K. Worthing- 
 ton, Augustus C. Taylor, Benjamin F. Smith, James Mc- 
 Credie, John H. Vought, John Allen, junior, James M. 
 Smith. 
 
 1867 
 
 Wardens: Henry W. Rogers, Robert Hollister. 
 
 Vestrymen: Rufus L. Howard, James M. Smith, 
 James McCredie, John H. Vought, John Allen, junior, 
 Gibson T. Williams, Henry Kip, Joseph D. Roberts.
 
 1 1 8 History of Trinity Church 
 
 1868 
 
 Wardens: Henry W. Rogers, Robert Hollister. 
 
 Vestrymen: Rufus L. Howard, James M. Smith, 
 James McCredie, John H. Vought, John Allen, junior, 
 Gibson T. Williams, Henry Kip, Joseph D. Roberts. 
 
 1869 
 
 Wardens: Henry W. Rogers, Robert Hollister. 
 
 Vestrymen: James M. Smith, Rufus L. Howard, 
 James McCredie, John H. Vought, George L. Williams, 
 John Allen, junior, Samuel M. Welch. 
 
 1870 
 
 Wardens: Henry W. Rogers, Robert Hollister. 
 
 Vestrymen: Rufus L. Howard, James M. Smith, 
 James McCredie, Henry Kip, Samuel M. Welch, William 
 Williams, William H. Dudley, George Gorham. 
 
 1871 
 
 Wardens: Henry W. Rogers, Robert Hollister. 
 
 Vestrymen: Rufus L. Howard, James M. Smith, 
 James McCredie, Henry Kip, Samuel M. Welch, William 
 Williams, George Gorham, Stephen V. R. Watson. 
 
 1872 
 
 Wardens: Robert Hollister, James M. Smith. 
 
 Vestrymen: Samuel M.Welch, Rufus L. Howard, 
 James McCredie, Benjamin F. Smith, Thomas F. Roch- 
 ester, George Gorham, Henry Kip, Stephen V. R. Watson,
 
 Wardens and Vestrymen 1 1 9 
 
 1873 
 
 Wardens: Robert Hollister, James M. Smith. 
 
 Vestrymen: Rufus L. Howard, James McCredie, 
 Henry Kip, Samuel M. Welch, Stephen V. R. Watson, 
 Samuel K. Worthington, Thomas F. Rochester, Walter 
 Cary. 
 
 1874 
 
 Wardens: James M. Smith, Alexander A. Evsta- 
 phieve. 
 
 Vestrymen: Samuel M. Welch, Delevan F. Clark, 
 Henry M. Watson, Joseph T. Fairchild, Townsend Davis, 
 Livingston Lansing, Henry C. Winslow, William E. 
 Foster. 
 
 It was this vestry which had the honor of calling the 
 Reverend Doctor Van Bokkelen to the rectorship. 
 
 1875 
 
 Wardens: James M. Smith, Alexander A. Evsta- 
 phieve. 
 
 Vestrymen: Townsend Davis, Delevan F. Clark, 
 Henry C. Winslow, Samuel M. Welch, Moses Smith, 
 Henry M. Watson, Joseph T. Fairchild, William E. 
 Foster. 
 
 1876 
 
 Wardens: James M. Smith, Alexander A. Evsta- 
 phieve. 
 
 Vestrymen: Samuel M. Welch, William Laverack, 
 Moses Smith, Delevan F. Clark, Henry C. Winslow, 
 Henry M. Watson, Charles B. Germain, William E. 
 Foster.
 
 1 20 History of Trinity Church 
 
 1S77 
 
 Wardens: James M. Smith, Alexander A. Evsta- 
 phieve. 
 
 Vestrymen: Moses Smith, Samuel M. Welch, Charles 
 B. Germain, William Laverack, Frank W. Fiske, John 
 Allen, junior, Sylvester F. Mixer, Samuel M. Welch, 
 junior. 
 
 It was this vestry which elected the Reverend Doctor 
 Ingersoll rector emeritus. 
 
 1878 
 
 Wardens: James M. Smith, Alexander A. Evsta- 
 phieve. 
 
 Vestrymen: Samuel M. Welch, William Laverack, 
 Moses Smith, Sylvester F. Mixer, Frank W. Fiske, Sam- 
 uel M. Welch, junior, Charles B. Germain, George J. 
 Sicard. 
 
 1879 
 
 Wardens: James M. Smith, Alexander A. Evsta- 
 phieve. 
 
 Vestrymen: William Laverack, Samuel K. Worthing- 
 ton, Samuel M. Welch, Delevan F. Clark, William H. 
 Gratwick, Samuel M. Welch, junior, Lawrence D. Rum- 
 sey, Nathaniel Rochester. 
 
 1880 
 
 Wardens: James M. Smith, Elam R. Jewett. 
 
 Vestrymen: Samuel K. Worthington, Samuel M. 
 Welch, William Laverack, Henry M. Watson, Nathaniel 
 Rochester, William H. Gratwick, Samuel M. Welch, 
 junior, Lawrence D. Rumsey.
 
 Wardens and Vestryme7i i 2 1 
 
 1881 
 
 Wardens: Elam R. Jewett, William Laverack. 
 
 Vestrymen: Samuel M.Welch, William H. Gratvvick, 
 Samuel K. Worthington, Nathaniel Rochester, Samuel 
 M. Welch, junior, Edmund W. Granger, Charles A. De 
 Laney, Porter Norton. 
 
 1882 
 
 Wardens: Elam R. Jewett, William Laverack. 
 
 Vestrymen: Samuel K. Worthington, William H. 
 Gratwick, Edmund W. Granger, Charles A. DeLaney, 
 Porter Norton, Rufus L. Howard, Delevan F. Clark. 
 
 1883 
 Wardens: Elam R. Jewett, William Laverack. 
 Vestrymen: Samuel K. Worthington, William H. 
 Gratwick, Delevan F. Clark, Charles A. DeLaney, Porter 
 Norton, Rufus L. Howard, Edmund W. Granger, William 
 Meadows. 
 
 1884 
 
 Wardens: Elam R. Jewett, William Laverack. 
 
 Vestrymen : Rufus L. Howard, Samuel K. Worthing- 
 ton, William H. Gratwick, Edmund W. Granger, James 
 P. White, Leonidas Doty, Moses M. Smith, Charles H. 
 Utley. 
 
 In this year the consolidation of the two parishes of 
 Trinity and Christ Church was effected, and a joint 
 vestry selected from both, as follows: 
 
 Wardens: Thomas Dennis, Elam R. Jewett. 
 
 Vestrymen: Asaph S. Bemis, Ensign Bennett, Henry 
 C. Springer, Andrew J. Packard, Rufus L. Howard, Wil- 
 liam H. Gratwick, Leonidas Doty, Edmund W. Granger.
 
 122 History of Trinity Church 
 
 1885 
 
 Wardens: Elam R. Jewett, Thomas Dennis. 
 
 Vestrymen: William H. Gratwick, Ensign Bennett, 
 
 Rufus L. Howard, Asaph S. Bemis, Leonidas Doty, 
 
 Henry C. Springer, Edmund W. Granger, Hobart B. 
 
 Loomis. 
 
 1886 
 
 Wardens: Rufus L. Howard, Thomas Dennis. 
 
 Vestrymen: William H. Gratwick, Nathaniel Roch- 
 ester, William Laverack, Ensign Bennett, M. Bainbridge 
 Folwell, Hobart B. Loomis, Charles H. Utley, Peter C. 
 Doyle. 
 
 This was the vestry that elected the Reverend Doctor 
 
 Lobdell. 
 
 1887 
 
 Wardens: Rufus L. Howard, Thomas Dennis. 
 
 Vestrymen: William Laverack, Ensign Bennett, 
 
 Peter C. Doyle, William H. Gratwick, M. Bainbridge 
 
 Folwell, Charles H. Utley, Hobart B. Loomis, Nathaniel 
 
 Rochester. 
 
 1888 
 
 Wardens: Rufus L. Howard, Thomas Dennis. 
 
 Vestrymen: Peter C. Doyle, Hobart B. Loomis, M. 
 Bainbridge Folwell, Charles H. Utley, Nathaniel Roch- 
 ester, Porter Norton, George Gorham, Samuel K. Wor- 
 
 thington. 
 
 1889 
 
 Wardens: Rufus L. Howard, David P. Dobbins. 
 
 Vestrymen: Porter Norton, Charles H. Utley, M. 
 Bainbridge Folwell, Hobart B. Loomis, Samuel K. Wor- 
 thington, George Gorham, Peter C. Doyle, Nathaniel 
 Rochester.
 
 Wardens and Vestrymen 1 2 3 
 
 1890 
 
 Wardens: Rufus L. Howard, David P. Dobbins. 
 
 Vestiymen: Porter Norton, Charles H. Utley, M. 
 Bainbridge Folwell, Hobart B. Loomis, Samuel K. Wor- 
 thington, George Gorham, Peter C. Doyle, Nathaniel 
 Rochester. 
 
 1891 
 
 Wardens: Rufus L. Howard, David P. Dobbins. 
 
 Vestrymen: Porter Norton, Charles H. Utley, M. 
 Bainbridge Folwell, Samuel K. Worthington, George 
 Gorham, Peter C. Doyle, Nathaniel Rochester, Henry 
 M. Watson. 
 
 1892 
 
 Wardens: Rufus L. Howard, David P. Dobbins. 
 
 Vestrymen: Nathaniel Rochester, Peter C. Doyle, 
 M. Bainbridge Folwell, Charles H. Utley, George Gor- 
 ham, Samuel K. Worthington, Porter Norton, Henry M. 
 Watson. 
 
 1893 
 
 Wardens: Rufus L. Howard, George Gorham. 
 
 Vestrymen: Nathaniel Rochester, Peter C. Doyle, 
 M. Bainbridge Folwell, Charles H. Utley, Samuel K. 
 Worthington, Porter Norton, Henry M. Watson, Robert 
 L. Fryer. 
 
 1894 
 
 Wardens: Rufus L. Howard, George Gorham. 
 
 Vestrymen: Nathaniel Rochester, Peter C. Doyle, 
 M. Bainbridge Folwell, Charles H. Utley, Samue^ K. 
 Worthington, Porter Norton, Henry M. Watson, Robert 
 L. Fryer.
 
 i 24 History of Trinity Church 
 
 1895 
 
 Wardens: Rufus L. Howard, George Gorham. 
 
 Vestrymen: Nathaniel Rochester, Peter C. Doyle, 
 M. Bainbridge Folwell, Charles H. Utley, Samuel K. 
 Worthington, Porter Norton, Henry M. Watson, Robert 
 L. Fryer. 
 
 1896 
 
 Wardens: Rufus L. Howard, George Gorham. 
 
 Vestrymen: Nathaniel Rochester, Peter C. Doyle, 
 Edmund W. Granger, Charles H. Utley, Samuel K. 
 Worthington, Porter Norton, Henry M. Watson, Robert 
 L. Fryer. 
 
 1897 
 
 Wardens. — For one year: George Gorham. 
 
 For two years : Nathaniel Rochester. 
 
 Vestrymen. — For one year: Charles H. Utley, Henry 
 M. Watson, Henry C. Howard. 
 
 For two years: Samuel K. Worthington, Robert L. 
 Fryer, Wilson S. Bissell. 
 
 For three years: Peter C. Doyle, Porter Norton, 
 Edmund W. Granger.
 
 Memorial Gifts 
 
 Christ Chapel 
 
 Before the Consolidation 
 
 Altar, in memory of Jane Elizabeth Forsyth. 
 
 Chancel window, in memory of Jennie Angelina 
 Laning. 
 
 Lectern, in memory of Martha J. Dealey. 
 
 Window at end of nave, in memory of Charles Knapp 
 Loomis. 
 
 Window, in memory of Cameron and Agnes Masten. 
 
 Window, in memory of Gilbert Holland Warren. 
 
 Brass tablet on south wall, in memory of Arthur 
 Perry Nichols. 
 
 Latin cross, in memory of May Kasson. 
 
 Christ Chapel 
 
 After the Consolidation 
 
 Prayer desk, in memory of Emily and Alexander A. 
 Evstaphieve. 
 
 Brass tablet on south wall, in memory of the Rever- 
 end Thomas Dennis, church warden. 
 
 Brass tablet on north wall, in memory of Asaph S. 
 Bemis, church warden. 
 
 Altar service books, in memory of Mrs. Zillah Rob- 
 erts Fell. 
 
 125
 
 126 History of Trinity Church 
 
 White altar cloth, in memory of the Reverend Thomas 
 Dennis. 
 
 Six brass vesper candlesticks, in memory of Mrs. 
 Adelia Dennis. 
 
 Trinity Church. 
 
 Chancel windows, John La Farge, artist, 
 i . " Nativity of Our Lord," in memory of James Piatt 
 White, M. D., and Mary Elizabeth White. 
 
 2. " Adoration of the Magi," in memory of Jerry 
 Radcliffe and Ariadne Webster Radcliffe. 
 
 3. "The Transfiguration," in memory of the Rever- 
 end Edward Ingersoll, D. D. 
 
 4. " The Resurrection," in memory of Stephen Van 
 Rensselaer Watson. 
 
 5. " The Ascension," in memory of Harriette Cor- 
 nelia Howard. 
 
 Window over memorial altar, by La Farge; subject, 
 "The Sealing of the Twelve Tribes"; in memory of 
 Anna M. Sherman and Gretchen Van Dalsten. 
 
 Window by La Farge, illustrating the twenty-third 
 psalm, in memory of Mrs. George S. Hazard. 
 
 Window by Mayer & Co., Munich; subject, "Faith 
 and Charity"; in memory of Mrs. James M. Smith. 
 
 Window by Tiffany; subject, "Saint Cecilia"; in 
 memory of Orson Phelps and Mary Louise Phelps. 
 
 Window by Tiffany; subject, " Christ Restoring Sight 
 to the Blind"; in memory of Sylvester F. Mixer, M. D., 
 Annie Knowlton Mixer, Mary Knowlton Mixer. 
 
 Window by La Farge; subject, "The Good Samari- 
 tan"; in memory of Thomas F. Rochester, M. D.
 
 Memorial Gifts 127 
 
 Window by Tiffany; subject, "The Archangels 
 Gabriel and Raphael "; in memory of James McCredie 
 and Caroline M. McCredie. 
 
 Window by La Farge; subject, "The Calling of Saint 
 James"; in memory of James C. Harrison. 
 
 Window by Gibson's Sons; subject, "Christ Knock- 
 ing at the Door"; in memory of William G. Fargo. 
 
 Window by Tiffany; subject, "The Annunciation"; 
 the gift of Mrs. Edward H. Dutton. 
 
 Window by Tiffany; subject, "The Calling of Saint 
 Matthew"; in memory of James Daniels Sheppard. 
 
 Window by Hardman & Co., London; subject, " The 
 Feeding of Elisha in the Wilderness"; in memory of 
 Leonidas Doty. 
 
 Window in vestibule, by Hardman & Co., London; 
 subject, "Mary and Martha"; given by Saint Luke's 
 Church. 
 
 Altar and reredos, in memory of Amelia D'Arcy 
 Van Bokkelen and Henrietta Maria Van Bokkelen. 
 
 Altar cross and vases, in memory of Bertha Van 
 Bokkelen. 
 
 Violet altar cloth, in memory of Elam R. Jewett. 
 
 White altar cloth, in memory of Cecilia Utley. 
 
 Red altar cloth, in memory of Eunice A. Hutchinson. 
 
 Green altar cloth, in memory of Ellen Marvine Gor- 
 ham. 
 
 Fair linen cloth, veils, burse, etc., in memory of Louise 
 White. 
 
 White antependium for pulpit, in memory of Chandler 
 J. Wells. 
 
 Silver alms basin, in memory of the Reverend Doctor 
 Ingersoll.
 
 128 History of Trinity Church 
 
 Silver alms basin, in memory of the Reverend Doctor 
 Van Bokkelen. 
 
 Silver chalice and paten, in memory of May Husted 
 Foster. 
 
 Two candelabra, in memory of Marianne Humphreys 
 Pease and Julia F. Pease. 
 
 Processional cross, in memory of Frederic Betts 
 Foster. 
 
 Alms chest and brass tablet in the tower vestibule, in 
 memory of Frederic Betts Foster. 
 
 Alms chest in the main vestibule, in memory of 
 Asaph S. Bemis. 
 
 Pulpit and lantern, in memory of Mary Richards 
 Dobbins. 
 
 Litany desk, in memory of Bradford Chauncey 
 Howard. 
 
 Brass lectern, in memory of George B. Gates. 
 
 Chair rail, in memory of James P. White. 
 
 Hymn board, in memory of Miss Lydia Stewart. 
 
 Hymn board, in memory of Nathaniel Hall. 
 
 Memorial Chapel 
 
 Reredos, in memory of Julia E. Tryon. 
 
 Altar cross, in memory of those buried by Doctor 
 Van Bokkelen. 
 
 Baptismal font and brass rail, in memory of Mary 
 Heathcote Rochester. 
 
 Marble statue of " Hope," in memory of Mrs. James 
 M. Smith. 
 
 Ewer, font, and cover, in memory of those baptized 
 by Doctor Van Bokkelen.
 
 Memorial Gifts 129 
 
 Silver baptismal bowl, in memory of Louise White. 
 
 Green altar cloth, in memory of Julia H. Rieffcnstahl. 
 
 Good Friday altar cloths, in memory of Mary Knowl- 
 ton Mixer. 
 
 Two altar vases, gift of Mrs. Thomas F. Rochester. 
 
 Full set of service books, in memory of Charlotte 
 Brownell Ives. 
 
 Altar book (by Updike), Thanksgiving offering by T. 
 Guilford Smith. 
 
 Silver communion set for the sick, in memory of 
 Antoinette Haven. 
 
 Silver baptismal bowl, in memory of Mrs. Thomas F. 
 Rochester. 
 
 Two brass eucharistic candlesticks, in memory of 
 Rosalind B. Ross. 
 
 Silver flagon, in memory of Mr. and Mrs. William 
 Laverack. 
 
 Tablets 
 
 Marble tablet, in memory of the Right Reverend 
 Cicero Stephens Hawks, D. D., first rector of the parish. 
 
 Marble tablet, in memory of the Reverend Edward 
 Ingersoll, second rector of the parish. 
 
 Marble tablet, in memory of Catherine F. Ingersoll. 
 
 Brass tablet, in memory of the Reverend Libertus 
 Van Bokkelen, third rector of the parish. 
 
 Brass tablet, in memory of Alexander Alexis Evsta- 
 phieve. 
 
 Brass tablet, in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Robert 
 Hollister. 
 
 Brass tablet, in memory of James Daniels Shepard.
 
 1 30 History of Trinity Church 
 
 Marble tablet, in memory of Samuel L. Russell. 
 Marble tablet, in memory of Jerry Radcliffe. 
 Marble tablet, in memory of Henry Daw. 
 Brass tablet, in memory of James P. Dobbins.
 
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