TOWN OF BATH. 



181 



summer of 1825, when a new departure was taken, under 

 the auspices of that young missionary. Rev. William W. 

 Bostwick, whom Bishop Hobart sent to this field. Early 

 in 1826 he organized parishes in Bath and Hammondsport, 

 between which two places he divided his labors ; not forget- 

 ting, however, the wider field in which his predecessor had 

 sown good seed. 



At the time of the organization of these churches, there 

 was not known to be a single male communicant in either 

 place. In the former the first vestry consisted of Bev. W. 

 W. Bostwick, Bector ; Zalman Tousy and Nehemiah White, 

 Wardens; Dugald Cameron, John Brown, John D. Dent, 

 Wm. H. Bull, William Gamble, Selah Barnard, Paul C. 

 Cook, and John D. Mitchell, Vestrymen. Of them Col. 

 Bull is the only survivor, and has served either as vestry- 

 man or warden ever since. Of the first wardens, one was 

 from Campbell and the other from Avoca, as the town has 

 since been called. The vestrymen were yet more widely 

 scattered. 



Under Mr. Bostwick's auspices church edifices were 

 erected in good time at Bath and Hammondsport, and these 

 have recently been replaced by noble and attractive struc- 

 tures which would do honor to any place. 



For the new St. Thomas' Church, Bath, which cost, in- 

 cluding lot, bell, organ, architect's fees, and all its equip- 

 ments, over $60,000, the parish is greatly indebted to the 

 Hon. Constant Cook, who subscribed more than half that 

 amount. The congregation contributed the remainder of 

 the sum to be raised very liberally and promptly, so that 

 no debt was entailed upon the parish. 



The corner-stone of this church was laid by Bishop Coxe, 

 with imposing ceremonies, one beautiful August evening in 

 1869, in the presence of a great concourse of people, who 

 listened to his address with eager delight. The consecra- 

 tion services, April 13, 1871, were yet. more imposing, — 

 some twenty clergymen in their robes assisting the bishop. 



The church is of stone, — after a plan by H. Dudley, of 

 New York, — clerestory, with nave and aisles, and chapel 

 attached, fronting 76 feet on Liberty Street, and extending 

 along the line of Washington Square 140 feet. The recent 

 purchase and gift of an adjoining lot by H. H. Cook, Esq., 

 of New York City, has added greatly to the beauty and 

 value of the property. 



Mr. Bostwick resigned his charge at the end of fourteen 

 years of hard service, and removed to Illinois, where he 

 died, in 1846, greatly beloved and lamented. It was his 

 hand that, Noah-like, first planted the vine in Pleasant 

 Valley, from which so important results have followed. 



His successors at Bath have been the Bev. P. L. Whip- 

 ple, who died very suddenly in 1844 ; the Bev. Dr. Wilson, 

 now professor in Cornell University ; the Bev. Levi H. 

 Corson ; the Bev. Almon Gregory ; and the present incum- 

 bent, Bev. 0. B. Howard, D.D., who has now nearly com- 

 pleted his twenty- two years as rector of St. Thomas'. 



METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF BATH. 



The first society of the Methodist Episcopal Church of 

 Bath was incorporated on the 4th of September, 1822. 

 During several years previous there had been Methodist 

 preaching in the village, at first occasionally and then regu- 



larly at intervals of two or three weeks, as the circuit 

 preachers came around on their large circuits and preached 

 in the court-house or school-house if unoccupied and were 

 not locked against them ; when these could not be obtained 

 they preached in private houses. 



In 1814 Bath was included in Newtown Circuit, with 

 Newtown (now Elmira) as its centre, but with its circum- 

 ference undefined, in charge of one of the old, energetic 

 pioneers, — Bev. Gideon Banning. But the first Method- 

 ist sermon of which we can obtain definite account was 

 preached at the residence of Mr. Gaylord, the house still 

 standing on the north side of Steuben Street and now 

 occupied by '' Jo. Bell." 



In 1820, Bevs. James S. Lent and Nathan B. Dodson, 

 being then on this circuit, made Bath a regular preaching- 

 place once in two weeks, and formed a society or class com- 

 posed of thirteen members, and these mostly females. 



In 1822, Bev. Benjamin Sabin was in charge of the cir- 

 cuit. During this year the Bev. Loring Grant, a young 

 man of good preaching powers, educated a lawyer, was sent 

 out by the conference to look after the finances of the 

 church generally, and especially the titles and interests of 

 church property. He came to Bath and saw its need of a 

 Methodist house of worship. A meeting was convened on 

 the 3d of September for the purpose of incorporating the 

 first society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, at Bath, 

 at which meeting John Whiting, Dr. Simpson P]llas, George 

 Wheeler, Jeremiah Baker, and Darius Bead were elected 

 trustees, as appears by the certificate bearing the signatures 

 of Bev. L. Grant and Eleazer Dewey, presiding, and filed 

 in Steuben County 4th of September, 1822. 



The Bevs. Grant and Sabin circulated a subscription for 

 funds to build a church ; the frame of which was reared in 

 May, 1823, by John Whiting and Mr. Degolier, and was 

 by them finished with galleries and bell-tower in 1826, 

 under the supervision of a board of trustees, elected in 

 1825, viz. : John Donahe, George Wheeler, Moses Dudley, 

 Lewis Biles, and John Whiting. And the church was 

 then dedicated by the Bev. George Lane, of Berwick, Pa., 

 then presiding elder on Ontario District. 



On the 9th day of April, 1825, the title to the church 

 lot was conveyed by Howell Bull and wife to John Donahe 

 and others, trustees, etc., of the First Society of the Metho- 

 dist Episcopal Church in Bath. 



In 1846, under the pastorate of Bev. Earl B. Fuller, the 

 house was reconstructed, and by Bev. John Kennard the 

 galleries taken out, a floor thrown across so as to form a 

 basement with an audience-room above, and was in June, 

 1846, reconsecrated by Bev. Dr. J. Copeland, of Lima ; 

 the Bev. Dr. 0. B. Howard, then of Painted Post, preach- 

 ing in the evening. 



In December, 1865, under Bev. A. F. Morey, pastor, it 

 was determined, at a church-meeting, to make an efibrt to 

 enlarge or rebuild the church edifice. A subscription of about 

 $7000 was obtained, and a plan was adopted for a new 

 church edifice, to be 90 feet long by 41 in breadth, with 

 tower and spire, and audience-room and basement for Sun- 

 day-school and class-rooms; the structure to be a frame, 

 ceiled externally, and veneered with one course of brick. 

 P. S. Donahe, J. Carter, and A. B. De Puy were elected a 



