286 The Story of The Bronx 



between 1838 and 1848. In this latter year occurred the 

 revolutions in the German states of Europe, followed by the 

 immigration of thousands of Germans, who generally settled 

 as farmers. Many of these were Catholics; and in 1852, the 

 Church of the Immaculate Conception was established at 

 Melrose Avenue and East 150th Street with a German 

 pastor. 



Although George Whitefield, the famous preacher and 

 evangelist, preached to the assembled tenants of the Van 

 Cortlandts at the manor-house on the Croton River before 

 the Revolution, and though the manor-house often entertained 

 the eminent preachers of the Methodist faith, such as Asbury 

 and Garretson, it does not appear that the new doctrines made 

 progress in that part of the county now included within the 

 Borough. It is more than likely, however, that the itin- 

 erant preachers of the Methodist persuasion, the "circuit- 

 riders" of a later day, visited and preached within the 

 Borough. 



Mention has already been made of several acts of the 

 Legislature of the State in regard to the incorporation of 

 churches. Under the act of March 27, 1801, the Methodists 

 of Westchester organized a church on March 8, 1808, under 

 the name of Zion Methodist Episcopal Church of the town of 

 Westchester. There had been, however, a congregation for 

 some short time before. The church edifice was erected about 

 181 8. The church was re-incorporated on October 26, 1826; 

 but it does not seem to have flourished, as the church 

 corporation was dissolved by reason of non-user. A second re- 

 incorporation was effected on February 7, 1833, when the con- 

 gregation assembled in the edifice used by them for divine 

 worship and resolved that the society in future should be 

 called the Methodist Episcopal Church of Zion, in the town of 



