42 2 HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF WESTCHESTER. 



that my dissenting from the practice of my brethren would not only set 

 me up as a single mark of vengeance, and as every appearance of disunion 

 among the clergy might be disadvantageous to the Church hereafter ; 

 viewing the matter in this light, I thought it best to comply with the 

 general practice of the clergy. On the 21st of October I was made a 

 prisoner and sent to the court of Fishkill as an enemy to the Indepen- 

 dence of America, etc."<* 



Subsequently to this the parish church was used as a hospital, 

 and as a portion of the army was stationed near by, the Presbyterian 

 minister came there and preached what was termed a " war sermon ; " 

 on this occasion there were more people present than the church 

 could hold. One of the sergeants coming out was asked by a 

 bystander what the minister had said, he replied : " that he declared 

 God Almighty was a man of war." The interrogator observed, "he 

 should like to ask him how many guns He carried." Some of the most 

 active members of the parish having joined the army at the commence- 

 ment of the Revolution, and the Rector lost at sea, the church and lot 

 were sold — so it is said, to satisfy the claims of the contractor, Benjamin 

 Chapman ; and it is also asserted that this individual subsequently 

 purchased both, of the trustees, and converted the former into a tavern. b 

 For many years after the war it was known as the "Church Tavern," a 

 name given on purpose to cast odium upon the Church. By Chapman 

 it was mortgaged to the Presbyterian Society of South Salem ; default 

 being made in payment, it was advertised for sale. A few days before the 

 sale was to take place, it was conveyed by Chapman to John L. More- 

 house, from whom it passed to Jeremiah Keeler in 1796 ; the latter dis- 

 mantled the building and removed the material, much of which was 

 embodied in the Keeler mansion now standing. c The whole trans- 

 action, beginning with the attempt of the Rev. Solomon Mead to stop 

 the erection of the building in its incipient stages in 1771, looks very 

 much like a wicked design of a narrow-minded political and religious 

 clique to demolish the Church here that it might never rise again. 



a N. Y. MSS. from Archives at Fnlham, vol, II. 621-2-3-4 (Hawks). Dr. Inslis, Rector of 

 Trinity church (afterwards Bishop of Nova Scotia) inquired of Gen. Washington when he 

 should cease reading prayers for the King and Royal family? The General's reply was, "I 

 cannot tell, you must use your own judgment." 



b There is no evidence whatever of any sale or purchase by Ohapman the builder, but 

 Simply the testimony of interested parties. It is claimed that the parish of Lower Salem was 

 incorporated in June, 1786, and that James Brown and Gershom Selleck, with a third party 

 whose name is unknown, were trustees ; but unfortunately for this story James Brown died 

 19th of February, 1T86. Testimony of the late Jeremiah Keeler and James Keeler of Lewis- 

 boro. 



c Some of the material is said to have been removed toRidgefield and used in the construc- 

 tion of the second Episcopal church erected in that village in 1T88. On the front side of the 

 stone chimney of the old Keeler mansion is this inscription, " ST., ITS." The Keeler family 

 are said to have resided in the old church a short time before its destruction. The late 

 Thaddeus Keeler was the son of Jeremiah Keeler who was bora in Ridgefield, May 6th, 1760, 

 and died Feb. 9, 1853. 



