Historical Record 1798-1808, Page 2

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" background="0a5d05a3.jpg"> <div> Orange County, New York</div> <div> American History and Genealogy Project</div> <div> Historical Record 1798-1808, Page 2</div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="0a6d2123.jpg"> <div> <A HREF="http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/county/orange/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/county/or"><U>Orange County AHGP/ALHN</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/state/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/state/"><U>New York AHGP/ALHN</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://ahgp.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://ahgp.org"><U>AHGP</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://alhn.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://alhn.org"><U>ALHN</U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="623" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 849 WIDTH="617"><div>      In 1783, or immediately after the war with Great Britain, Abijah Yelverton made an effort to concentrate the religious forces of the town on erecting a Church.  He led the movement by offering to donate an acre of land where the Washington Hotel now stands. Mr. Yelverton's name does not appear upon the Church roll.  His wife, however, was a very earnest Christian woman, and many members of the family were adherents of the Church.  This may account for Mr. Yelverton's deep interest in the Church and the religious wellfare of the town.</div> <div>     <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Tahoma" > The war had so weakened their forces, which before it broke out consisted only of about thirty families, tha</FONT>t they felt unequal to the task of building a Church.  The Rev. Silas Constant's appearing among them about this time greatly encouraged and inspired them.  He urged their immediate acceptance of Mr. Ye1verton's offer, and the site for the Church was secured.</div> <div>      But it was not until fourteen years later, or in 1797, that they were able to begin the construction of the Church.   At the close of the year they had erected a log Church at a cost of $1,309.28.  It was by no means a finished building.   It  enclosed and made fit for service, however, in 1798.  The exact day of the opening can not now he determined, but it was a day of great joy and rejoicing among the people of Chester.  The congregation continued between those rough, unfinished walls for three years, praising God for His goodness, thankful if they could get their toes anywhere near the little foot-stove of the fortunate few.  Temporary seats of rough hewn logs or boards, were used by the hearers as they listened to the long sermon, while a rude oak platform and pulpit of the same material served the preacher for all occasions.</div> <div>      This Church of a Sabbath morning presented quite a contrast to the well-furnished churches of the present day.  These have their richly cushioned seats, with downy back rests, arranged on the plan of the famous amphitheatre; pulpits, elevated, spacious, and finished with beautifully upholstered furniture; handsomely carpeted floors; stained or opalescent glass windows inwrought with the most poetical and beautiful figures which the genius of art can design powerful and melodious organs pouring forth the faintest, sweetest tones or filling the worshipper with awe as the whole house quivers under its tones of bass, while every wall and nook and corner is filled by painters' art or tapestry, and the entire Church is filled with the balmy air of the tropics and lighted in an instant with the brilliancy of the sun.</div> <div>      Yet the worship offered to God at that time was likely as sincere and as acceptable to Him as that offered to Him now in the midst of all these splendors.</div> <div>      The congregation was not yet organized as a church when it invited its first regular minister,    Rev. Samson R. Jones, to labor among them at a salary of $75.00 per annum.</div> <div>      He was also to have the privilege of teaching the village school to piece out his support.</div> <div>      Rev. S. R. Jones began his labors in Chester in the Spring of 1798, and proved himself most efficient.</div> <div>      The Church grew in numbers and wealth, and in the course of four years the building was comfortably finished and furnished at a cost of $1,692.40, making the total cost of the Church $3,082.68.  The log seats had given place to square pews, the fashion of the day.</div> <div>      A round box pulpit was introduced, and the house of worship became so crowded that galleries were erected on three sides of the Church, while the steeple set off the outside with the air of a real temple of worship.</div> <div>      It made no pretensions of being a model of artistic taste and beauty either externally or internally.  Yet its purpose was well known to every passer-by.</div> <div>      The deep interest in the Church and her future was manifested by the amount they paid for pews.  The amount aggregated about $2,000, which for those times was a very large sum.  This enabled the congregation to dedicate the Church free of debt and leave a balance in the treasury.</div> <div>      The Church, which had been so long in construction and final equipment, was at length formally dedicated on Sept. 19th, 1802.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="pg8.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Historical Record 17981808, Page 3"><U>Next Page</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="pg1.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Table of Contents"><U>Table of Contents</U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>