144 



HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK. 



hold service duiang the same month. At the second visit 

 he preached in the Methodist house of worship to a large 

 and attentive congregation, and was engaged conditionally 

 to come and officiate for the six months beginning in Jan- 

 uary, 1854, in order to test the practicability of organizing 

 a parish. The conditions being complied with, he came 

 accordingly on the third 'Sunday in January, 1854, and 

 commenced his duties in Addison as missionary for Addi- 

 son and Rathboneville, holding service for some weeks in 

 the district school-house of District No. 1. 



Early in the spring permission was granted by the trus- 

 tees of the Academy to hold service in that building, and 

 on the 18th of April, being Tuesday in Easter week, a 

 meeting was held in the Academy, at which the parish was 

 duly incorporated and the first wardens and vestrymen 

 elected: Senior Warden, L. Griswold ; Junior Warden, 

 Z. L. Webb ; Vestrymen, James S. McKay, David Darrin, 

 H. J. Fonda, William R. Smith, Thomas Paxton, Stephen 

 Lewis, H. W. Rathbone. 



On the 2()th of March, 1854, 18 members, whose names 

 appear below, were received by the rector, Rev. Robert N. 

 Parke, upon the following instrument in writing : 



"Addison^ March 20, 1854. 

 " We the undersigned, citizens of Addison, county of Steuben, situate 

 in the Diocese of Western New York, do hereby attach ourselves to the 

 Protestant Episcopal Church in this place, now under the rectorship 

 of Rev. llobert N, Parke. 



" N, B. Lawney. W. R. Smith. 



Henry M. Smith. James Whittenhall. 



William A. Smith. Henry Sherwood. 



P. S. Bell. Z. Lewis Webb. 



L. Griswold. H. W. Rathbone. 



D. Darrin. John W. Di ninny. 



Wm. Stradella. E. H. Ames. 



J. S. Lyon. R. P. Brown. 



Stephen Lewis. H. J. Fonda. 



'' This is to certify that 1, Robert N. Parke, Rector of the Episco- 

 pal Church in Addison, above mentioned, do receive and recognize 

 those persons whose names are herein recorded as belonging to the 

 church now under my charge. " Robert N. Parke. 



"Addison, March 20, 1854." 



On the 30th of June, 1858, a subscription was started 

 for the purpose of raising money to build a church edifice. 

 The building was finished, and consecrated by Rt. Rev. 

 William H. De Lancey, Bishop of the Diocese of Western 

 New York, on the 5th of April, 1860, with every dollar 

 of indebtedness paid. It is furnished with an organ and 

 bell, and with every comfort and convenience for the wor- 

 shipers and for the vestry and other meetings of the parish. 

 The church now numbers 88 communicants, 48 families, 

 and 55 in the Sunday-school. 



The rectors who have ofiiciated in the church since its 

 organization are as follows : Rev. Robert N. Parke, about 

 four years ; Rev. A. R. Van Antwerp, about two years ; 

 Rev. De Witt C. Loop, about two years ; Rev. Albert 

 Wood, about eight years ; Rev. F. F. Rice, the present 

 rector, since 1871. 



METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, ADDISON. 



Religious services were held in a school-house below 

 where the academy now stands, and near Mr. Montgomery's 

 house, forty-two years ago. 



On Wednesday evening, Sept. 3, 1835, a meeting was 

 held at that school-house, and the Second Methodist Epis- 

 copal Church of Addison was duly organized. Rev. 

 Thomas Wheat and Mr. Henry Wombough were chairmen 

 of that meeting ; Erastus Brooks was secretary. Thomas 

 Wheat, Samuel Miles, James Turk, James Allen, Henry 

 Wombough, John Thompson, Amos Carr, Llewellyn A. 

 Jones, and Jerathmeel Powers were elected trustees of the 

 society. 



Two days after, the board met, organized, and appointed 

 two committees ; one to select a site for a church, the other 

 to prepare and circulate a subscription paper. No church 

 edifice of the society, however, was erected till 1841, as the 

 Methodists co-operated with the Presbyterian society in the 

 erection of their church and for several years used it in 

 common. 



On the evening of Nov. 24, 1841, another meeting for 

 organization was held in the red school-house. The first 

 Methodist Episcopal society of Addison was legally organ- 

 ized. Rev. Jerathmeel Powers and Rev. R. T. Hancock 

 were chairmen. Israel B. Persons was secretary. James 

 H. Miles, Warren Starkey, James Turk, Myron S. Curtis, 

 Israel B. Persons, John Thompson, Russel Root, Jr., 

 Elnathan G. Brown, and Vincent B. Hathaway were elec- 

 ted trustees. This meeting took immediate action towards 

 building a church. Five years afterwards, while Samuel 

 Nichols was pastor, M. S. Curtis, David Turk, Wm. Price, 

 and Vincent B. Hathaway, trustees, Ensign Allen put up 

 the frame to a church building on a lot above where Mr, 

 H. Ross Jones' house now stands. Three years after that 

 the congregation (having occupied the basement during that 

 time), occupied the audience-room of the church. After a 

 struggle of fourteen years Methodism was anchored in Addi- 

 son. Then followed a quarter of a century of uninterrupted 

 church life,— a period of blessing and of trial. Then came 

 the fire and swept away the church building, which had 

 been built by struggle, sacrifice, and prayer. 



The next period of Methodist history begins with the 

 dedication of a new brick church, on April 21, 1876. This 

 church was built during the pastorate of D. D. Cook. 

 John Mitchel, John Orr, L. D. Coburn, P. W. Orr, Geo. 

 Crane, trustees. It is a substantial structure, tasteful in 

 its design, and convenient for general church work. Its 

 total cost was $14,000. To some it seemed unwise to 

 build a building of its style and cost, but as time goes by 

 the wisdom of the counsels which finally prevailed will 

 become more apparent. It was an act of faith which the 

 Great Head of the Church will bless. 



Since the pastorate of Rev. D. D. Cook in 1875-76, Rev. 



E. E. Millspaugh, Rev. Canfield, and Rev. have 



served successively as pastors. 



FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF ADDISON. 



The First Baptist Church of Addison was organized May 

 6, 1869, under the missionary labors of Rev. C. W. Brooks. 

 Rev. S. D. Merrick, the first pastor, settled over the church 

 in October, 1869, and remained four years and a half 

 During his pastorate the present house of worship was built, 

 known as the Baptist Chapel. When he came here the church 

 numbered about 30 members ; when he left, it numbered 130, 



