346 



HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK. 



door. The women came with sun-bonnets, while the 

 little girls, clad in checked-tow frocks, wore white cotton 

 handkerchiefs around their heads, and all carried their 

 well-cleaned shoes in their hands until near the meet- 

 ing. They generally brought their dinners, and attended 

 the forenoon sermon and Sunday-school before dinner, and 

 had another meeting after, when they dispersed for their 

 homes, following paths through the woods, by marks cut 

 upon the trees with an axe. This church received the 100- 

 acre gospel lot from the Pulteneys, their organization being 

 first in accordance with the incorporate law of the State. 



The first church, 24 by 36 feet in size, was built on the 

 State road, near Earl Stone's, by. William H. Prentice, 

 Earl Stone, and David Ward, committee, who commenced 

 their work in 1844, and finished in 1846. Meetings were 

 held in it while building. The first Sunday after its com- 

 pletion it caught fire in the morning and was burned before 

 service. The second building was immediately erected in 

 the Hampshire settlement, near the Denin's place, and was 

 dedicated in December, 1847, by Rev. G. T. Everest. 

 Rev. G. T. Everest, Jonathan Whiting, Earl Stone, 

 Thomas Whiting, and Sylvester Lamson were trustees and 

 builders. This building was abandoned on the completion 

 of a larger church in Jasper village, in 1872, at a cost of 

 $6000, exclusive of the site, which was donated by W. E. 

 Craig. The church was dedicated Feb. 15, 1872, by Rev. 

 W. A. Miles. The trustees were G. D. Woodward, S. F. 

 Dennis, 0. M. Whiting. 



Pastors: 1829, Rev. David Higgins ; 1830, Rev. Mr. 

 Pomeroy; 1835, Orrin Johnson; 1837-38, Robert Hub- 

 bard ; 1839-42, Noah Cressey ; 1843-44, T. W. Duncan ; 

 1847-48, G. T. Everest; 1852, Geo. Spaulding; 1854, 

 Harvey Hyde; 1856-58, Geo. Van Deurs; 1858-67, S. 

 A. Rawson; 1868, Alexander Gulick ; 1869-73, Samuel 

 A. Rawson ; 1874-75, John Beecher ; 1876, J. H. Brown ; 

 1877-78, Arthur Bruen, present pastor. 



Officers : Joshua Sargent, Jonathan R. Prentice, J. L. 

 Ordway, J. Sumner Sargent, Deacons ; Samuel Dennis, 

 Clerk ; Asa Spencer, Burnham Sargent, 0. M. Whiting, 

 Trustees. Two members of this church are now laborinir 

 as foreign missionaries : Rev. Joseph Whiting, in China, 

 and Miss Olive Whiting, in Japan. 



THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF JASPER. 



The first meetings of this society, held in the town of 

 Jasper, were under the auspices of Mrs. S. A. Grinolds 

 and Mrs. Smith, in 1818, who are said to have been the 



only Methodists in the town at that date. Rev. Buel 



was the first preacher. As a result of his labors there was 

 a revival, and a class was formed under his preaching, of 

 which Uzal McMinds was made class-leader. Mrs. McMinds, 

 Louis Hayes and wife, Samuel Cady, who became a local 

 preacher; Mrs. Cady, Hollis Cady and wife, Jonathan 

 Cady and wife, Hon. Samuel Griggs, afterwards of Troups- 

 burgh, and his wife, a Mr. Marlatt and wife, and some 

 others, united in forming the first class. Meeting's were 

 held in the school-house at Marlatt' s Corners, and as late 

 as 1834 were held at the present village, and at the old 

 corners below, in the school-houses, until the erection of the 

 present church. Revs. James Bronson, Magee, 



Peck, Micah Sager, and Asa Orcutt were early preachers, 

 traveling a long circuit and meeting their appointments 

 once in four weeks. Rev. Mr. Atchison, who preached 

 here in 1830, is well remembered as a man of peculiarly 

 regular habits, who allowed nothing to interfere with his 

 fixed hours for eating, sleep, or study, no matter what the 

 surroundings might be. 



Nicholas Prutsman and Miles Kinney were trustees build- 

 ing the church, which was repaired, and a large basement 

 constructed beneath. The church is at present a fine build- 

 ing, standing upon a hill-side street overlooking the village 

 and the valley to the north. The block upon which it 

 stands belongs to the society, and contains also a fine par- 

 sonage. During the pastorate of Rev. G. W. Coolbaugh, a 

 splendid new bell, weighing over 2000 pounds, was pur- 

 chased, and on New Year's day, 1879, it first rang, in proc- 

 lamation of the advent of a Happy New Year. This bell 

 is toned to the key of G, and wears the inscription, '' Jasper 

 Methodist Episcopal Church, Rev. G. J. Du Bois, 1878." 

 The total cost of the church has been $7000. The rededica- 

 tion, which occurred after the repairs, took place in 1871, 

 Rev. B. I. Ives preaching the dedicatory sermon. During 

 the pastorate of Rev. G. J. Du Bois, in 1856, Rev. Michael 

 Coyle, then a school-teacher at Troupsburgh, was converted. 

 He is now a prominent member of the Central New York 

 Methodist Episcopal Conference. At that time there were 

 upwards of 150 persons added to the church. 



The following pastors have officiated at this charge, and 

 preached before its organization : 1830-35, Revs. Mr. 



Achison, Anderson, Ashworth; 1836, I. J. B. 



McKinney; 1837, Waller and St. John; 



1838-53, Luther Northway, M. Rogers, Huntley, C. 



Gould, M. H. Davis ; 1854-55, C. J. Bradbury ; 1856, G. 

 J. Du Bois ; 1857, Chandler Wheeler, D. Rittenhouse ; 

 1858, Carlos Gould; 1859, C. J. Bradbury; 1860-61, 

 Merritt M. Davis ; 1864, J. Powell ; 1865-66, J. J. Tur- 

 ton; 1867-68, L. T. Hawkins; 1869, C. Dillenbeck; 

 1870-72, Francis M. Smith; 1873-75, C. G. Curtis; 

 1876-77, J. R. Catlin; 1878-79, G. J. Du Bois. 



The present officers of the society are Milton Timerman, 

 Class-Leader ; Edwin Whiting, Recording Steward ; C. B. 

 Hilburn, J. M. Taft, Robert Hilburn, Abram Walrath, 

 De Witt C. Amey, Stewards ; Jonathan Whiting, Andrew 

 Savage, John N. Duncle, R. Johnson, Trustees. The 

 present membership is 190. It is impossible to obtain a 

 full history of this church, as ail their old books of record 

 have been destroyed. 



WESLEYAN METHODIST CHURCH. 



The First Wesleyan Methodist Church of Jasper was 

 organized in March, 1871, at the " Gully school-house,'^ 

 in the west part of the town, under the preaching of Rev. 

 Mr. Sinsabaugh. Rev. P. D. Rathbone had preached there 

 a short time previous. The first members were Geo. W. 

 Sibley and wife, Thurlow Woodward and wife, William 

 Drake and wife, Joseph Banks and wife. Geo. Sibley, who 

 afterwards became a minister, was made class-leader, and 

 Thurlow Woodward, clerk. A building was immediately 

 commenced under the supervision of Geo. W. Sibley, Martin 

 Campbell, and Thomas Woodward, trustees, and was dedi- 



