54^ HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF WESTCHESTER. 



returned to New York. He filled the office of Burgomaster of New 

 Orange in 1674, and was Alderman subsequently under the English, 

 from 1678 to 1682; and again in 1685; and 1691 down to 1696, 

 when he retired from public life."* "In 1652 he purchased Corlear's 

 Hook for 750 guilders; in 1677 he is mentioned as a brewer in New 

 York, where the present " William " and " Beeckman " streets still bear 

 his name." He died in New York in 1707 in the 85th year of his age, 

 leaving by his wife, Catharine de Bough, six children. Henry Beeck- 

 man, the eldest son, settled in Kingston, was Judge of Ulster County 

 and member of the Provincial Legislature. Gerardus, the second son, 

 was President of the Provincial Council; and, in 17 10, temporarily 

 Governor of the Colony of New York. By his wife Magdalen Abeel 

 he had a son, Gerardus Beekman, who was born in 1693. In the 

 north-west corner of this town is situated the parochial church of St. 

 Mary's, Beechwood. Mount Pleasant was formerly included within the 

 Manor of Philipsburgh, one of the four precincts of the parish of West 

 Chester. 



From the MSS. of the venerable Society for the Propagation of the 

 Gospel, it appears that as early as 1759, there were people enough 

 in Philips' Manor for a large congregation without any minister at all. 

 In 1 76 1 the Rev. Ebenezer Dibble of Stamford, Conn., who visited this 

 part of the country, says : — " I found a great want of a regular clergy- 

 man to officiate in these parts, to prevent confusions in religion, which 

 hath too much obtained ; and there seems a general good disposition to 

 the Church, if they could be favored with a settled teacher. This defi- 

 ciency was in some measure supplied by the appointment of the Rev. 

 Harry Munro to the mission of Philipsburgh in 1765; but for nearly 

 seventy years afterwards, St. John's church, Yonkers, served the purposes 

 of divine worship to a district which now contains seven Episcopal 

 churches. It is more than probable that, as the last lord of the Manor 

 was an active Churchman and also a member of the Venerable Propa- 

 gation Society, some of the ministers of the county were induced to visit 

 this part of the county even before 1761. 



St. Mary's church is beautifully located on high ground above the 

 Hudson River, about two miles south of the village of Sing Sing, and 

 was erected in 1850, principally at the cost of the late Rev. Wm. 

 Creighton, D.D., and of his son-in-law, the late Rev. Edward N. Mead. 

 The whole structure cost about $7,500. Besides the lot of one acre, on 

 which the church stands, the Rev. Founder has purchased two and a 

 half acres adjoining, for a glebe and parsonage. The chancel arrange- 

 a O'Callaghan's Hist, of New Netherlands, Vol. II, p. 472. Note. 



