174 HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF WESTCHESTER. 



remains lie in the church yard, and on the tomb it says : " First or- 

 dained minister of the Presbyterian persuasion in Rye and the White 

 Plains;" adding, that '"worn out with various labors he fell asleep in 

 Jesus." 



In the Revolutionary war, which began shortly after the death of Mr. 

 Smith, the Presbyterian church of Rye was destroyed by fire. The con- 

 gregation, owing to the times, was very much scattered. 



At the close of the Revolution, the Presbyterians of Rye were very 

 few and feeble. 



The efforts to resuscitate the congregation was due to the Rev. Dr. Lewis 

 of Greenwich. The first step towards rebuilding the church was taken 

 in 1792. On the 22d of November in that year, Jesse Park and Phrebe 

 his wife, of the town of Harrison, conveyed to Joseph Theale, Ezekiel 

 Halsted, Junior, and John Merrit, of Rye, as trustees of the Presbyterian 

 society, a tract of land comprising half an acre. The church was buiU" 

 in the following spring. It was dedicated to the worship of God in 1793 

 by the Rev. Isaac Lewis, D.D., who preached here for some months 

 every Sunday after service in his own church at Greenwich ; his son, the 

 Rev. Isaac Lewis, succeeded him for a short time. But after this they 

 remained along while without a stated minister, from 1793 to 1812. 



It had been incorporated on the 5th of June, 1795, under the name 

 of the Presbyterian church of Rye. 



The old church, built in 1793, was a very plain and unpretending 

 structure. There were two doors on the front. The interior remained 

 unfinished for many years. The walls were not plastered; an I instead 

 of pews there were planks, the ends of which rested upon logs for seats. 

 In or about 1S11 the Methodists obtained possession of the church and 

 occupied it for a period of sixte&n years, from 181 2 to 1828. 



It was by the efforts of Mr. Ebenezer Clark, a merchant of New York 

 who came to Rye in 182 1, that the building was restored to its original 

 use ; he claimed the building, on behalf of the few Presbyterians of the 

 place. This claim was not admitted without some discussion. The 

 Methodist congregation had worshipped there unmolested for many 

 years, and they conceived that so long a possession gave them a right 

 o the property. Mr. Clark showed clearly that the land had been given 

 for a Presbyterian church, and that a society of that denomination had 

 been incorporated under the law of the State, and that the building had 

 been appropriated from the first to their use. 



A service was held by the Presbyterian congregation on the 7th of 

 Dec, 1828, in the district school houseof Rye, preparatory to the resump- 

 tion of public worship in the church. Soon after the occupation of the 



