ating sound church doctrines among ordinary people, and was in many cases the only newspaper taken in the family. I remember at a later date, the Catechism on Bible History, which for one year filled a column weekly, and which my mother used to exercise upon on Sunday evenings to our great delight and subsequent profit.
The church was a neat wooden building, white, with green window blinds and pointed windows, three on each side, forming a very pretty object seen through the screen of graceful locust trees which shaded it on the south and west. It was enclosed by a fence and after the school in the basement had been discontinued, early in the “forties,” the sexton was required by formal Resolution of the Vestry, to keep the gates closed except on service days. There were two gates—a small one in front of the church door, and a large one at the side of the church for the ingress of carriages. There was a carriage shed back of the church and a little to the east of it.
A large well lighted room in the basement was for many years occupied by a select school. The church had a square tower in front, which had a pinnacle at each corner—a bell, which was then the only church bell in the village—a clock, which filled the office of timekeeper to the town for more than one generation—and an organ, which instrument was considered distinctly “‘piscopal.” The upper part of ours was adorned with the figure of an angel in blue robes, holding a trumpet in one hand and floating amid rose-colored clouds. It was painted by a local artist, Parley Cleveland.
It is safe to say that I gazed in after life on the masterpieces of the early Italian painters with less delight than that which thrilled my heart in childhood in the contemplation of what I then regarded as a glorious work of art.
Our choir occupied the organ gallery at the entrance end of the church, which was reached at either end by two stairways in the vestibule, one of which was removed when the heating apparatus was placed in the basement in 1840. The men singers occupied the east end of the gallery; the women the other half. When they sang they protect themselves from view by hiding along the curtains which surmounted the gallery front. These were suspended by little rings from slender brass rods, which were supported by uprights, two or three feet in height. The curtains were slipped into position while the organist was playing the tune, and withdrawn when the choir sat down after the doxology, which was sung after each hymn or metrical psalm.
During the singing some members of the congregation would always turn about to face the choir, a custom which, as we learn from Morier’s “Hajji Baba,” * was prevalent in England in the middle of the last century. The “Musica Sacra” ** was the original book used in the gallery, but by degrees others, of great variety, were introduced. Bishop Wainwrite’s “Music of the Church” *** being the stand-by, and, as frequently in the long light summer Sunday evenings the choir would meet for practice, while the church would be sometimes half-filled with listeners in the soft early twilight, every one in that collection became familiar to us.
* Note: Adventures of Hajji Baba of Isphahan in England (1828) by James Justinian Morier
** Note: Musica Sacra: Select Chants and Psalm Tunes for the Episcopal Church by Thomas Hastings, published in many editions and titles between 1815 and 1836
*** Note: Music of the Church (1828) by Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright. A direct descendant of Bishop Wainwright, Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright IV, an American general in World War II, was held as a POW for more than three years by the Japanese and attended St. James’ on Tuesday, September 25, 1945, for a service celebrating his freedom.
I think the choir must have been a very good one, and the elite in the congregation took a pride in belonging to it. As our own organ was the only one in the village, so our choir was regarded as unapproachable. It could chant and even get up an occasional anthem. “Them ‘piscopals thinks so much of music!”
For some years the precentor of our choir was chosen by the Vestry. My father received the appointment April 8, 1833, and was re-appointed the next April, but I think the office was held longest by the one who was the last to hold it, Mr. John Snook, Jr.
The back seats in the gallery were the usual resort of the unattached lads of the congregation, who were often a source of annoyance to the choir, and in 1833, probably in consequence of some complaint of my father a resolution of the Vestry is recorded authorizing William M. Beauchamp to maintain order in the gallery.
The leader of the choir, for so we designated the holder of the office precentor, did the training, in conjunction with the organist, decided on the tunes to be sung, and served as umpire when the usual jealousies and differences of opinion required the interposition of authority. This office continued till the Roosevelt family took charge of the music, and the substitution of quartette choir for our former one, rendered it superfluous. Thenceforth there were no services held without music, for Mrs. Roosevelt was a most accomplished organist and was always at her post and her daughters lent their charming voices to the hymns and chants on week days as well as on Sundays. The parish cherishes a grateful memory of their past services and a loving recognition of their continued benefaction in the excellent organ they have bestowed on the church. But to return to our description:
There was no broad central aisle, but two narrow alleys gave access to the four tiers of seats. At the altar end there were six square pews, belonging to the principal families of the parish and the remaining seats were called slips. Pews and slips alike were furnished with doors, which were fastened with brass buttons. The renting of the pews and slips by auction on Easter Monday was often the cause of considerable excitement and rivalry without regard to any whom they might inconvenience. There was always a full attendance on Low Sunday to appear in the newly leased seats. There were only thirty in all—seven in each tier of those fronting the altar, and eight on each of the sides. The stove pew is not included in this computation, nor the free seats under the gallery.
The six square pews were thus appropriated: That in the south-west corner, Capt. DeCost; next by the window, Mr. Gibbs; in front of the altar, Mr. Burnett had the first from the west; the other was shared between Mr. Brainard’s family, and Mr. and Mrs. Francis with their daughter, Emily; the southeast corner pew was Squire Furman’s; and the next, by the window, Mrs. Horton’s. Each of these pews was furnished with seats on three sides, and contained a table in the center for Prayer Books and Bibles, around which were ranged three long kneeling stools. They were very convenient for the Sunday School classes which were held in them during the noon “intermission.”
The church was entered from the vestibule by two doors, one for each aisle, and between these doors, and under the gallery, was the stove pew, with seats on one long side and short ones on the other, as near to the stove as it was considered safe to have them. The parts nearest the stove wore coats of tin. The big box-stove, which was fed from the vestibule and protruded through the wall into the stove pew, was usually kept red-hot during severe weather, which made its locality a very favorite place of resort on a cold day. Boys were apt to congregate there, and as wherever boys are, mischief may be expected, some elderly “pater familias” would commonly sit there, ostensibly to keep his eye on the youngsters, but perhaps with a little view to his own comfort as well. A pipe ran from this stove at a height of a little over six feet to the Vestryroom, which originally received no other heat. Finally a small box-stove was placed in it. The clergyman was obliged to wear his overcoat in winter under his robes, and doubtless he was often glad to ascend the high pulpit where it was somewhat warmer than in the glacial regions below. This leads me to consider the chancel arrangements.
There was no recessed chancel, but an arrangement of pulpit, reading desk and altar, which is commonly known as the “three-decker.” We would not have presumed to apply such a term to it then. The pulpit was to us, as to [William] Cowper, “a sacred thing.” We used to recall Cowper’s lines, in seeing Mr. Clarke in the pulpit: “There stands the messenger of truth; there stands the legate of the skies; his theme divine and his office sacred, his credentials clear.” *
* Note: From “The Task”(1785), a poem by William Cowper
The pulpit was a projecting, pentagonal structure, high up on the wall and entered by means of a staircase in the Vestryroom, through a pointed deeply-recessed door. The pulpit-hangings were crimson with heavy netted chenille fringe, terminating in tassels. When Mr. Clarke disappeared at the Vestryroom door in his surplice, and reappeared in the pulpit in his black silk gown and bands, we children used to wonder how he got there. Frequently after his sermon and giving out the closing hymn, he would sit down, which indicated the existence of a seat, which he certainly had not stepped over on entering, and, in fact, there was a hinged bench in front of the door which was turned up on one end when not required for use.
We were told that the white bands of the clerical garb symbolized the Two Tables of the Law which the teachings of the preacher must accord. A collect was always said in the pulpit before the sermon.
Below the pulpit was a reading desk likewise furnished with big cushions on which lay the Bible and Prayer Book side by side and crimson hangings over its capacious semi-circular front. When we had lay-reading the reader of the sermon never ascended the pulpit, but stopped at the reading desk. There was plenty of room for both readers, and the one who had read the service sat in this place of dignity while the other read the sermon, after which the first reader gave out the hymn, while the second retreated to his place in the organ gallery. These readers were, in my time, Mr. Burnett and his son-in-law, Mr. John Snook, both of whom were remarkably good readers. Mr. Snook was, like his father-in-law, a native of England, and was a man of fine literary tastes as well as of churchly culture. For many years he was our choir-master, and occasionally played the organ in the absence of the regular organist, I think. Mr. John Britton, Mr. John Preece and Mr. Benjamin Petheram were amongst our first organists—
I have read a letter from Mr. Vredenburgh to Mr. Peter Roosevelt, Greenwich Street, New York, dated August 13, 1812, asking for help in raising four or five hundred dollars from friends in the city to aid in the building, and warning Mr. Roosevelt against any application from the rival party. He says that at present they have the services of a young missionary, William A. Clark. “He now boards at my house, and for his board amuses himself in teaching my boys.” Vredenburgh mentions “Our Vestry” and further says: “We were thinking that if our numerous friends in New York would subscribe something in proportion to their ability, we could in a few months have our church built, organized and consecrated, as I am told our Worthy Bishop will pass through here this summer in order to consecrate the Auburn Church.”
The Bishop seems to have ordained Mr. Clark priest [in Auburn] September 5, 1812, at this summer visitation, and to have come to Skaneateles to officiate at his marriage shortly after (married September 7, 1812.)
It is stated in Clark’s history of Onondaga * that Rev. W.A. Clark held a select school for boys in the house of Col. Vredenburgh. Probably Col. Vredenburgh allowed the sons of relatives to share in the educational advantages of his own children. After his death in 1813, a school was held on weekdays in the room fitted up for Sunday worship behind the post-office. It is conjectured that the manifest need of such a school led to its being continued in the basement of the Church building many years later. Like the Quaker schools of this town, it was open to all.
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* Note: Joshua V. H. Clark (1803-1869) published his Onondaga: or Reminiscences of Earlier and Later Times in 1849. The passage cited by Beauchamp follows:
“St. James’ Church, Skaneateles, was organized 4th January, 1816, Rev. William A. Clark, presiding. This organization failed for want of regular attention to legal requirements. In 1824, the society was re-organized by Rev. Augustus L. Converse, Jonathan Booth, Charles J. Burnett, were chosen Wardens, and Stephen Horton, John Pierson, Charles Pardee, J. W. Livingston, Samuel Francis and Elijah J. Rust, Vestrymen. Rev. Davenport Phelps was the first missionary for this Church 1803-4, and the Rev. William A. Clark kept a select school for boys in Judge Vredenburgh's house, and attended to parochial duties. Church services were held at the houses of Mr. Vredenburgh and Charles J. Burnett. Rev. Lucius Smith succeeded Mr. Clark, and seats were fitted up in a store, for the greater convenience of worshippers, which was also used for a school room. Rev. A. S. Hollister succeeded Mr. Smith. Rev. A. L. Converse officiated next, and the Rev. Amos Pardee was pastor in 1824, Mr. Hollister again in 1827. The first church edifice was erected 1827-8, and greatly enlarged and improved in 1847. The late Rev. Joseph T. Clark was the officiating minister of this parish from May, 1831, to October, 1844, more than thirteen years. He died at Jamaica whither he had retired for the improvement of his declining health, and died there, rector of St. Dorothy's Parish, 17th July, 1845, in the forty-seventh year of his age. Rev. Mr. Seymour, present rector.”
Col. Vredenburgh was born in the city of New York in 1760, (baptized April 18, 1760, son of John W. and Marytie “VanWagenen” Van Vredenburgh), and there engaged in mercantile pursuits after serving in the War of the Revolution. About the beginning of this century, having become possessed of a large portion in the “Military Tract,” he sent an agent to ascertain if it contained a desirable situation in which to settle his family. The report being favorable, they came in the Spring of 1803, of course traveling in their own conveyance in gypsey fashion. They often told how on arriving in sight of the lake, which they could see only through openings in the wood, they alighted and lunched at the side of the road under a magnificent elm tree, which till very lately stood on a lot at the corner of Jordan and West Academy streets.
Mr. Charles J. Burnett accompanied Col. Vredenburgh to Skaneateles, as his partner in business, and a few years afterwards married the Colonel’s daughter, Maria, after whom the village of Marietta was named, and who had been educated at the Moravian School in Bethlehem, Pa. Mr. Burnett was a native of London, England; a lineal descendent of Gilbert Burnett, the historian of the Reformation, and brother of the Rev. J.B. Burnett, Rector of the parish of Houghton Hunts, England. He left England in early life to enter the mercantile house of a relative in Lisbon, residing there and in Malaga and Gibraltar for some years, and then returned to London before coming to this country. He was post-master of our village from 1817 to 1843. He was an active and influential man in our little community, and officiated as lay-reader for many years. His house was a social center as long as he lived.
He died February 16, 1856, leaving a stainless record of uprightness, faith and zealous devotion to the interests of religion. He had been warden of the parish from its first organization in 1816, a period of forty years. His lovely wife survived him about twenty years and died in the house in which, more than seventy years before, her marriage had been celebrated.
The first remembered Church services were held in 1803, in the house of Colonel Vredenburgh—now the “Burnett place” and at Gen. Earll’s “Red House” during the same and following years. Afterwards also in a small wooden building situated on the spot where the church now stands. One half of this building was used as a post-office and store, and the back part was furnished with benches for Sunday services. Mr. W.J. Vredenburgh, Mr. Charles J. Burnett, Mr. John S. Furman and Mr. Samuel Litherland officiated as Lay Readers.
Mr. Furman was Lawyer and Justice of the Peace, universally known as Squire Furman. He was a refined gentleman of the old school, and had fine literary tastes. Washington Irving was at one time his guest, being connected with the family by marriage, one of Irving’s brothers having married a sister of Mr. Furman. There were several sons in the Furman household, but only one daughter. Miss Julia was a sparkling brunette, an accomplished and brilliant woman, who was noted for her skill as a pianist. She was also an able Sunday School teacher. They lived in the house now occupied by Mr. Prentiss, and often came to church across the lake in a boat, as the distance was more than double if they walked. I think the family were all fond of boating, and one of the sons was familiarly known as “Captain Jack,” a leading member of the “Skaneateles Yacht Club.”
Mr. Litherland was an Englishman who had come to Skaneateles as Mr. Vredenburgh’s gardener. He was a man of blameless life, deeply religious and very amiable. Though never in orders of any kind, he frequently supplied any vacant pulpit in our village, but I think amongst church people, his ministrations were limited to an occasional reading the service. He was called upon frequently to officiate at funerals. A young farmer, who was in quest of him for a service of this sort, inquired at the post-office, “Where does the man live who buries people?” and was directed at once to Mr. Litherland’s house. He had a great fancy for buying a small house, to live in for a while, exercising his skill as a carpenter in enlarging and improving it, when he would sell and repeat the process. I could mention four, at least, of his former residences, all pretty, and in good repair at the present day. In one of them, belonging to me, there is a mantle piece carved by Mr. Litherland. He had a beautiful garden and raised mammoth strawberries and beautiful flowers and was liberal in distributing roots and seeds. He died July 17, 1844.
St. Peter’s Church in Auburn was organized in 1805 [noted as 1808 in Rev. Thomas Smith’s sermon of 1873] with the Rev. Davenport Phelps as Rector and the church building was consecrated by the saintly Bishop Hobart on the 22nd day of August, 1812. Mr. Vredenburgh was one of the Wardens of that parish, and Mr. Booth a Vestryman. The church people here very generally attended divine service in Auburn. Rev. Davenport Phelps frequently came over to officiate in Skaneateles. His first service was held in the upper hall of the Vredenburgh mansion (afterwards known as the Kellogg place), seats being arranged there for the people of the neighborhood, who very generally attended these services. Mr. and Mrs. Burnett received their first Communion in this house, from the hands of Mr. Phelps in 1809. He also baptised their first child.
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