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On
September 14, 1831, sixty
members of the Congregation sent a
petition to Presbytery, asking that
they be
permitted to found a Church
at Unionville. The
petition was
granted and in September 20, 1830, the
Unionville
Church
was
organized. Samuel VanFleet, one of the elders at Westtown, was
dismissed in order to aid
in the forming of the
Church. On
September 19, 1832, Rev.
Theron C. Depew was received by
the
Presbytery of Hudson and on
the 17th day of April, 1833, a
call was
given him from the Westtown
Church and one from the
Unionville
Church. It was accepted by
him. He was installed by
Presbytery
on May 1, 1833. Rev.
Cummins preaching the
sermon,
Rev. William Timlow gave the charge to the Pastor and the Rev. Stephen
Sargent, the charge to the
people. We know
little of the
pastorate of Rev. Depew, as
some of the minutes are missing.
He resigned
on April 17, 1838, and
requested Presbytery to
dissolve the
pastoral relationship, which was done. The Rev. T. C. Holliday was a supply for the congregation for a time. At this time Dissensions arose in the Church, it coming to a crisis, when it was planned to employ the Rev. Peter Kanouse as part time pastor, when a large majority voted against his being employed. The Moderator and Clerk left their seats and withdrew from the meeting, after which William Monnell was appointed Moderator and Morris W. Lee, Clerk. The Session was appointed a committee of Supply for the Pulpit. On September 5, 1839, at a meeting duly called with William Johnson as Moderator and John E. Dubois as Clerk, it was decided to adhere to the General Assembly old school. Thus, the Congregation was divided into old school and new and the Constitutional Presbyterian church was organized by the New School. They erected a building, where the Methodist Church now stands and this Congregation was in existence for about twenty years. The Constitutional Presbyterian Church was organized on March 28th, 1842, and eders chosen were: John Dunkin and Silas Brown. Trustees elected were: David W. Clark, Isaac M. Deaker, Daniel Lee, Dorastus Brown, Virgil W. Dunning and Joel Bishop. There is no record of there being a pastor until October 1, 1850, when Rev. N.E. Pierson became pastor, and in as much as there are only fragmentary portions of minutes, we cannot give an estimate of his ministry. He seems to have been the only pastor and the church passed out of existence about 1858, when because of non-payment of salary of many of the members, they decided to attend the services at the Unionville Church. On November 11, 1839, the Old School Church elected as ruling elders: David Christie, William Evans, and George Corwin. These, with Jeremiah Reeves, Morris W. Lee and Roswell Mead, along with the pastor, constituted the Session of the First Presbyterian Church Old School. On January 2, 1841, the Rev. Ralph Bull became the pastor and was installed on the 26th day of January, 1841. The Rev. B. Vankeuren presided and asked the Constitutional |